AFRICA

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

INDIAN OCEAN DIVISION

GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

Dear Sabbath School Member:

The Special Project Offering of the present quarter is designated for

the development of the Adventist University of Central Africa. This

institution, located on approximately 200 acres of rich volcanic soil,

lies near Gisenyi, Rwanda and about 5 miles from the Zaire border.

Within an area of several hundred square miles surrounding the college

there are estimated to be 160,000 baptized Seventh-day Adventists.

Some may conceivably question the need of another Adventist University.

For those who do, permit me to give the following explanation: Of the

34 countries and islands comprising the Africa-Indian Ocean Division,

26 employ French as their official language. Consequently this

Division has the largest French-speaking membership in the

Denomination. However, startling as it may be, there is not one

Francophone college offering a four-year degree program in the entire

Division. Is there a need? YES. And it is urgent even critical!

As conditions now exist our youth are unable to prepare themselves

adequately for future leadership roles in the Lord's work. The long

term stability, growth, and spiritual vitality of our members depend

heavily on well-prepared national pastors, teachers and administrators.

The Scriptures in Romans 10:14 ask: "How then shall they call on Him

in whom they have not believed?" How shall they hear without a

preacher? The question could be paraphrased: "How shall the message

be proclaimed in the Francophone areas of Africa without a school to

train workers?" The response depends on us.

With great expectation, hundreds of youth and 230,000 Francophone

members are seeking your support in the Special Project Offering for

this quarter.

What joy it will be to hear multitudes exclaim: "How beautiful are

the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad

tidings of good things." This will happen because of your interest,

prayers

and

support.

Most

cordially yours,

R. J. Kloosterhuis

President

RJK/sm

POSTAL ADDRESS: CIDEX 03 C 84, ABIDJAN, RIVIERA 1. IVORY COAST • PHONE: 41.40.85 • CABLE: ADVENTDIV, ABIDJAN • TELEX: 3190 AIDSOA

Contents

God Seeking Man

God—Constantly Offering His Covenant



'LOA

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



DAYS OF

Covenant with Abraham—Design for Salvation

REAPING

Covenant Promises to Abraham

The True Israel of God

The Sinai Covenant-1. Redemption and Covenant

The Sinai Covenant-2. Covenant and Law

The Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal

10.

The New Covenant

11.

New Covenant Ministries

12.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness

13.

The New Covenant Life

The Adult Sabbath School Lessons are prepared by the Sabbath

School Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day

Adventists. The preparation of the lessons is under the general di-

rection of a worldwide Sabbath School Lesson Committee, the

members of which serve as consulting editors. The published les-

son quarterly reflects the input of the committee and thus does not

solely or necessarily represent the intent of the author.

Editorial Office: 6840 Eastern Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20012

Lesson Author: Gerhard F. Hasel

Editors: Gordon M. Hyde and Leo R. Van Dolson

Editorial Secretary: Florence L. Wetmore

Circulation Manager: Gary D. Grimes

Art and Design: Pacific Press

Scripture references other than from the King James Version quoted by permission in this quar-

terly are as follows:

NASB. From the

New American Standard Bible,

1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975. Used by permission.

NEB. From

The New English Bible,

Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961 and 1970. Used by pemission of

Cambridge University Press, New York City.

NIV. From the

New International Version of the New Testament,

York Bible Society International.Used by permission.

RSV. From the

Revised Standard Version Bible,

and 1971, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ

in the U.S.A., and used by permission.

Adult Sabbath School Lessons (standard edition). Published quarterly by

Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1350 Villa Street, Mountain View,

California 94042, U.S.A. One year subscription in U.S.A., $2.80; single

copy 70 cents. One year subscription to countries outside U.S.A., $4.00;

single copy, $1.00. All prices at U.S.A. exchange. Second-class postage

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dress is desired, please send both old and new addresses.

Editions in Braille and for the deaf available. See page 97.

Adult gq1,1,1th Crhnnl T ocenn (T MDR



„I,- - 111Q')

God's Great Gift—

The Everlasting

Covenant

A CHALLENGE FROM CHINA! In a recent word from China, David

Lin pictures the angels combing that vast land for workers to enter God's

harvest field. "During the days of the Gang of Four," he reports, "the

Christians in a small town in Anhue province" dared not meet openly.

"Only a couple of old women got up at 2:00 a.m. to climb a hill and pray."

When religious liberty was restored to the nation they rejoiced, but lacked

a preacher. A group of women prayed for the conversion of men. The

husband of one was courteous and hospitable and finally "joined them in

prayer and singing. But he secretly prayed that the Lord would not let his

friends see him in the company of so many 'superstitious old women.' So

he started out on the road to heaven as a bashful Christian."

This quarter we are starting out on a very wonderful but difficult set

of lessons. They deal with God's great and precious promises as pre-

sented in His everlasting covenant or agreement. In the rest of David

Lin's story (shared with one of his former teachers) we shall be able to see

how willing God is to extend His boundless grace and love to individuals

in China today. That same grace is for every soul on earth, of course.

Could the dedication of each of us to the study of God's Word match

that of the two sisters who climbed the hill in the sivan



in order to

pray, we would joyously grapple with and feast upon the great themes set

before us.

This series of lessons may be the most complete Sabbath School

study of God's promises in the covenants since the 1888 era. In many

parts of the world field there seems to be a new hunger among God's peo-

ple for the deeper things of the Word. At camp meetings the Bible-study

hours are among the best attended.

Seventh-day Adventists have long been under attack regarding the way

we have understood and taught the place of the old and new (everlasting)

covenants in salvation. Charges of legalism, Pharisaism, and attempting

salvation by works ho 'e been linked to our covenant understanding. Peo-

ple have wanted to say we have left the cross and gone back to Sinai!

The Word actually reveals many covenants made by God with His

people at different times and in different settings. There were covenants

with Adam, Noah, Abram, Moses, Israel, and David, just to mention the

best-known. Then there was and is the new or everlasting covenant

blanketing the entire period of God's grace to sinful man. If we will be

persevering in our study, we will find a marvelous unity running through

all the covenants. And we will see they were all of grace with good works

of obedience as the blessed result or counterpart.

Watch for the rest of David Lin's story in these lessons. God's grace is

still at work in China and everywhere else! Pray for China and for your

own participation in the covenant of God's grace.

—The Editor

•

September 26 to October 2

Adult Lesson

DM% OF

REAPING

God Seeking Man

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).

With these majestic opening words the Bible introduces God—

the Creator and the soon-to-be Redeemer—as the One who created the

world and its heavenly spheres. From the beginning the Creator

formed a close communion between Himself and man, the crowning

work of His creation. Man was made only and completely in the

image of God (Gen. 1:26). This made possible a deep, yet open God-

man relationship. It provided a kind of communion that was de-

signed to deepen and grow with time. Yet man would need to make a

free choice to live and prosper in that deep relationship with his

Creator. For this reason God provided a test of man's choice in the

form of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16, 17).

Man's decision to yield to the temptation of the evil one lowered

him. God's image in man was thus marred—almost wiped out.

This did not cause the Creator to turn from the man who had turned

his back upon God. Man was now in desperate need. God's

yearning call,"Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9, RSV), was the Creator's

call of humankind into a redeeming relationship with Himself.

Creation goes before redemption, yet both belong together from the

beginning.

Sin broke the original relationship between God and man—the clos-

est possible fellowship that can be conceived. In His great grace

He who had created that relationship then broke through the barrier

made by sin and Satan. God came seeking His children to

reestablish the fellowship. At the very moment of grief and guilt,

shame, trouble, and separation, God's love reached across the

gulf made by man's sin to bring him back to his Creator's loving arms.

This divine seeking continues even to the present time. "The

Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count

slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any

should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

God Seeking Man



Sunday

September 26

Part 1



What is the clear teaching of the Word of God about God as Cre-

GOD—THE

ator?

CREATOR

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen.

1:1).

Holy Scripture opens with the simple, yet profound fact that

God is the Creator. The Bible does not attempt to

prove

that

God is Creator; it

reveals

that He is Creator. It reveals that He is a

good Creator: "God saw everything that he had made, and be-

hold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31, RSV). God's creatorship and

God's goodness go together.

Note some of the key statements of Scripture about God as Cre-

ator. Isa. 40:28; John 1:1-3; Heb. 1:2, 10.

Throughout the Bible the Creator is presented as the three-in-

one God. The Creator is the everlasting God and Lord. By Je-

sus Christ all things—heaven and earth and all that is in them—

were created. (Consider Rev. 10:1, 6; Col. 1:16-20.) It is by the

Word that the world was made; "without him was not any thing

made that was made" (John 1:3).

The biblical presentation of God as Creator is a special pre-

sentation of God Himself. God reveals and declares Himself the

First and the Last, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the

God of Israel, the God and Father of Jesus Christ, the Alpha

and Omega. This same God, the God of history and the God of

salvation, is also the God of Creation. As God—Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit—He is separated and marked off from creation,

because He is Creator and all else is creation and creature. God is

never Himself a part of creation (as pantheism claims). The true

Creator God is not arrived at by philosophy or reason, because

any conclusion reached is still only man's view of God and not

God Himself. It is from Him, from His revelation embodied in the

Bible, that we learn the truth about Him as Creator and enter into

His creative and redemptive purposes for us.

What does it mean for me to know that God is the good Creator?

How does it affect my life? my witness for Christ?

"Only in allegiance to the living God, the Creator of all and the

Ruler over all, can man find rest and

peace."—Prophets and

Kings,

p. 97.

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 44-51.

God Seeking Man



Monday

September 27



Part 2



What origin for humankind alone is revealed in the beginning of

MAN—THE

the book of Genesis? What does it reveal about God? about man?

CROWN OF



CREATION



"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our like-

ness.' . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of

God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:26,

27, RSV).

In the biblical Creation story, "man"—a basic word referring

to humankind—is represented as the crowning work of Creation.

The following are key facts regarding the creation of man:

1, The creation of man followed counsel or deliberation

within the Godhead. This is expressed in the plural of the

clause, "Let us make man" (Gen. 1:26). No other part of the cre-

ative act is so presented in the account. Man's lofty place in cre-

ation is thus established.

Man is the only earthly creature that God created in His own

image and after His own likeness. The phrase "image of God"

carries within it the thought that man's external form and appear-

ance, his character, and his mental, spiritual, and moral

capacities reflect the divine.

By stating that man is made "after our likeness," God's

Word still places a basic distance between God and man. Man is

not created to be another god or the god over the earth. God is

Creator and man is creature. But he is not a creature on the level

of an animal—not even a superior animal. Man is a creature in

God's likeness. At the same time he is not God.

Male and female share their creation in the image of God. In

their creation there is

suggestion of a lack of equality between

man and woman. God made both equal from the start and placed

them together in a special relationship to Himself. Neither was

seen as superior or inferior to the other. They shared their rela-

tionship to God and vital communion with Him.

Man as the "image of God" is a new order of being. A most

meaningful relationship was opened thus between the Creator

and human beings. This God-man relationship was God's

amazing gift to humankind. It was to exist and grow throughout

the ages.

How can I experience a growing relationship with my Creator?

In spite of sin's steady breaking down of both the character of

man and the world of God's creating, the pre-sin state of each

gives the redeemed a constant picture of that life to which God is

calling them back. (See Gen. 6:5; Rom. 8:18, 19, 22-32.)

Further

Study: Education

pp. 17, 20.

God Seeking Man



Tuesday

September 28



Part 3



Who opened the direct communion between God and man?

lEATOR OF



GOD-MAN



"God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multi-

ATIONSHIP

ply.' . . . And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yield-

ing seed . . . for food' " (Gen. 1:28, 29, RSV).

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden

to till it and keep it" (Gen. 2:15, RSV).

These are the first texts in Scripture to speak of God's efforts

to open communion with man. They reveal that God takes the

first steps. This is true both before sin and suffering entered the

scene and broke down the first God-man relationship and also—

even more intensely so—later when Satan's deception of man had

brought separation from God. The marvelous picture of God in

both the Old Testament and the New is that He was and re-

mains the One who opens and keeps a vital relationship with man.

Without it life and existence for man would suffer a great void,

ending in total extinction.

According to the texts cited above, in what ways has the Creator

opened communion between Himself and man?

God opened communion by (1) generous blessing and (2) gra-

cious oral instruction. Before God spoke to Adam and Eve, He

"blessed them." Divine blessing is a free, undeserved gift of God

which involves well-being and prosperity, a wholeness rooted in

God and experienced in everyday life.

The second act of communion involves the following:

The charge to be fruitful and multiply so as to populate the

earth.

The mandate to subdue the earth so as to govern it respon-

sibly.

The instruction to have dominion over the animal world.

(See Gen. 1:28.)

The counsel as to what foods to eat (verse 29).

"Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion

with his Maker."—The

Great Controversy,

p. vii.

Since the kind and caring God is the One who seeks humankind,

how can I respond to this expression of love by the Father and Jesus

Christ today?

Further Study:

Steps to Christ,

"The Privilege of Prayer,"

pp. 93-104.

God Seeking Man



Wednesday

September 29



Part 4



What instruction did God give regarding a test of man's loving

TESTING OF

response to the seeking God?

THE RELA-



TIONSHIP



"Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,

for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Gen. 2:17, RSV).

The deep, unbroken, and unchanged fellowship of God and

man could never be complete or continuing if created man and

woman had no free and real choice in the matter. By their choice

Adam and Eve "could obey and live, or disobey and perish."—

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 53. This choice was presented in

God's instruction about a tree—just one tree—from which the

first pair must not eat.

What could this test show about man's standing with and attitude

toward God?

The test could or would show these things:

That man's relationship to God was one of free choice by

beings who could understand right and wrong.

That man was not to be a superman, but that he should

function in complete dependence upon the One in whose image he

had been made.

Whether man would strive to be equal with God and forsake

his given place of being the image of God.

That man's relationship with God could (and can) be ef-

fective and lasting only if man freely chooses to hold on to that

first relationship. To reject it would be to claim independence

from God, to seek to become like God, to be an equal, to indicate

that man really has no need of God. The result of choosing to

break this relationship would be to know evil, to experience alien-

ation, loneliness, and all the pain of separation of a life apart from

God.

What choice or choices can I make today to maintain my vital and

effective God-man relationship?

(See

Education,

p. 289.)

In David Lin's China story (see p. 5) the need for a

preacher remained. There was none for 20 miles around.

Earlier the women had tried to draw "a backslidden

brother" to the Lord and to "be their preacher." But his

sins seemed too great. He was sure he was lost. As Lin

says: "We can imagine how in the councils of heaven this

lifeless branch, long severed from the parent stock, was

nevertheless given careful consideration. Could it be

grafted again into the True Vine?" Could it?

God Seeking Man



Thursday

September 30



Part



How did humankind fall into sin, and what does it indicate about

EAKDOWN

their relationship with God?

OF THE



VTIONSW P



"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that

it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,

she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her

husband with her; and he did eat. And the

eyes

of them both were

opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig

leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (Gen. 3:6, 7).

Our first parents failed the test of love, faith, and obedience.

There probably was nothing wrong or different with the test

tree itself. What was wrong was that they listened to someone

other than God. The woman listened to the serpent which was

used as Satan's medium (2 Cor. 11:3, 14), and the man listened to

his wife. Sin broke the blessed God-man relationship and brought

an end to open communion with God.

God, by word and deed, had brought about a loving relation-

ship. But man, in deafness and disobedience, destroyed it. So

man's disregard of the divine precept, "You shall not eat" (Gen.

2:17, RSV), illustrates that sin is the act of disobeying God's

word. This act was more than an act of rebellion. It showed

man beginning to see himself as a rival, if not as an equal, of God.

He was already dimming the distinction between God and His

creatures. Man rejected God's supreme dominion by doubting

that the God-man relationship of Creation was truly designed for

his own good and happiness.

In what

ways

did sin change man's several relationships? Gen.

3:7, 10-13.

Genesis 3 touches upon changes of relationship resulting from

man's sin:

The relationship between man and woman is marred and

is illustrated in the sewing together of fig leaves. (See

S.D.A. Bi-

ble Commentary, vol.

1, p. 231.)

The relationship between man and the created world is

marred by fear, alienation, and death. (Compare Rom. 8:19-23;

2 Peter 3:13.)

The relationship between God and man is broken. It

changes from open fellowship with God to fleeing in fear from

God's face. (See Gen. 3:8-10.) Fellowship and communion are

replaced by alienation and separation. Only God can bring about

restoration.

Contrast the biblical picture of man as one fallen from a lofty

place in God's creation and in need of redemption with the evolu-

tionary picture of slow, evolutionary development.

God Seeking Man



Friday

October 1

Part 6

THE WAY

BACK

What searching question did God put to man after he had fallen

into sin?

"The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are

you?' " (Gen. 3:9, RSV).

The Creator had first opened the God-man relationship by

speaking with man (Gen. 1:28-30; 2:16, 17), revealing to him his

standing before God and the world. Through sin our first par-

ents had fallen from their lofty place. "Sin has marred and well-

nigh obliterated the image of God in

man."—Patriarchs and

Prophets,

p. 595. But God took the first steps toward offering

them a way back.

The marvelous story of God's love, unfolded in His Word

time and again, shows that He was and remains the source of re-

demption. When man had turned away from God, God in His

bountiful mercy turned to him again. As man is in hiding from

God in fear, guilt, and shame, with marks of sin within and upon

him, God approaches him with love. "Where are you?" No one

in this world can escape that question.

This question "Where are you?" was not designed to be a

curse, a condemnation, or a judgment. Notice that only the ser-

pent and the ground are cursed (Gen. 3:14, 17, 19). The ques-

tion, rather, was to draw fallen and guilt-stricken man back to

God. "God's first word to fallen man has all the marks of grace. It

is a question, since to help him He must draw rather than drive

him out of hiding."—F. Derek Kidner,

Genesis, Tyndale Old

Testament Commentary

(Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity

Press, 1968), p. 70.

What great divine promise puts the plan of redemption into ef-

fect? Gen. 3:15.

God's surprising word of prophetic hope speaks of a divinely

ordained hostility ("I will put enmity") between the serpent (Sa-

tan) and the woman, between "his" seed and "her" seed. This

climaxes in the victorious appearance of a "he"—a representa-

tive offspring of the woman's seed who delivers a deadly blow to

the head of Satan while the deceiver would only be able to bruise

the Messiah's heel.

In their utter helplessness, Adam and Eve were to gain hope

from this messianic promise—hope that would transform their ex-

istence because it was God-given and God-supported. This

hope of the Messiah and of final victory lifted the gloom into

which sinning had placed them. It gave promise of a renewed rela-

tionship with God, one of grace and mercy, forgiveness and salva-

tion.

October 3-9

Adult Lesson

Pi]

DAYS OF

REAPING

God—Constant

Offering His Covens

"I will trade you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall

know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under

the burdens of the Egyptians" (Ex. 6:7, RSV).

One of the richest thoughts in the Bible is found in the idea of

covenant. It expresses deepest communion, intimate relationship, and

closest fellowship. Many see it as the central idea in the whole Bi-

ble and the one that ties everything else together.

The broad reach of the covenant idea is shown in the 287 us-

ages of the term "covenant" (Hebrew

berit)

in no less than 27 books

in the Old Testament.

But its presence virtually everywhere may

be seen even where the term itself does not appear.

The situation is

no different in the New Testament. The equivalent term

(Greek

diatheke)

appears 33 times, 7 of which are in Old Testament

passages quoted in the New.

Again the idea underlies all New

Testament writings where the (new) covenant and the kingdom of God

ideas are linked together.

The covenant idea is summed up in the promise, "I will be your

God, and you shall be my people" (Jer. 7:23). This promise also

expresses the fact that it is God who repeatedly and constantly offers

covenants between Himself and human beings, including His

people.

The covenanting God has proclaimed Himself "the Lord, the

Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding

in lovingkindness and truth" (Ex. 34:6, 7, NASB). His twice-re-

peated "lovingkindness" (NASB) or "steadfast love" (RSV) comes

from the Hebrew term

chesed.

When used of God, this word ex-

presses most fully His forgiving, delivering, and enduring love for

undeserving mankind. The greatness of His covenantal "stead-

fast love" is seen in these ways:

His refusal to give up His people or individuals, even when

they rejected Him.

His refusal therefore to set aside the divine responsibility

which He took upon Himself in offering the covenants and in electing

people to benefit from them. Can anyone fathom such love?

God—Constantly Offering



Sunday

His Covenant



October 3

Part 1



What meaning is attached in Scripture to the word "covenant"

COVENANT

when it deals with God's promises of close friendship with man-

LANGUAGE

kind?

"I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply

you exceedingly" (Gen. 17:2, RSV).

"He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are

called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death

has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under

the first covenant" (Heb. 9:15, RSV).

The standard expression in the Old Testament for estab-

lishing a covenant between God and man is the phrase "to make a

covenant" (Gen. 15:18; Ex. 24:8; Deut. 4:23; 5:2; Jer. 11:10; Eze.

34:25; etc.)—literally in Hebrew "to cut a covenant." This

phrase appears in the Old Testament no less than 80 times,

whereas the general term "covenant" itself appears 287 times.

The ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, called

the Septuagint, translated it in most cases (270 times) with "cov-

enant," and at times "testament" or "last will."

The origin of the Hebrew term

bolt,

customarily translated

"covenant," is not clear and does not need to concern us because

its meanings can be discovered through the ways the Scriptures

use it.

In the Bible the word

berit

describes two major relations:

relationship between human parties, whether equals or

not.

(It can also cover the familiar term "contract," "bond,"

"alliance," or "treaty." Often, this kind of "covenant" is of little

religious importance.)

The covenantal relationship between God and man.

This

is the more frequent and more significant usage of the term. In

this sense it appears for the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Mo-

ses, and David and for the new covenant. In these instances the

"covenant" is offered by God and arranges and makes possible a

relationship between God and man. God, as superior Lord, gra-

ciously discloses, confirms, and fulfills the covenant promises.

To benefit from the divine covenant gifts, man has to accept

freely the continuing relationship. At the same time he seeks to

obey the divine obligations ("commandments," "statutes," and

"laws"—Gen. 26:5). This, however, is through the assisting

and enabling grace of God.

There is no close parallel to the divine covenant in the many

Near Eastern treaty documents. Some, going back over 2000

years into Old Testament times, may shed some light on our

study, but we will be cautious in our use of them.

What is the relationship between God's call to man to be saved

and the divine covenants? (See Deut. 7:6-8.)

God—Constantly Offering



Monday

His Covenant



October 4

Part 2



In what words does the Lord speak directly and for the first time

COVENANT

of a covenant?

WITH NOAH

"I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into

the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you"

(Gen. 6:18, RSV).

Yesterday we learned meanings for the noun "covenant"

(bolt).

Here the term is met for the first time in the Bible. God is

speaking to Noah. The divine decision to destroy the results of

the Genesis Creation has just been made known. The reason for

it has been the massive and continuing spread of sin, resulting in

the corrupt world of Noah's day. While God's judgment is to

come in a worldwide Flood, He is not yet forsaking the world

He had created. He therefore will continue to offer the covenant

relationship first set into operation after the Fall. Thus God

announced to the righteous Noah, "I will establish my covenant

with you." The divine

"I"

who offers the covenant is Himself

the ground of Noah's security. God established the covenant; it is

His

covenant ("my covenant"). Man is to benefit. Indeed, salva-

tion is from the Lord. (Compare Jonah 2:9.)

In what ways did God make covenant offers again after the

Flood? Gen. 8:15, 16; 9:1, 8-10.

When it was safe, God instructed Noah and his family to leave

the ark (Gen. 8:15). Then He repeated the promise of growing

families (Gen. 9:1). In the third word to Noah, God announced:

"Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants

after you, and with every living creature that is with you" (Gen.

9:9, 10, RSV). God takes the steps toward man for his well-being

in a world where wrong human choices have led to bitter failure.

And so in our China story: "The bashful Christian and

his wife were praying that the Lord would rejuvenate this

fruitless twig and make a preacher out of him. This young

couple had heard the elderly sisters talk of this man who

many years ago used to hold a Bible in his hands and preach

the gospel." Could he possibly be brought back under the

covenant promises of God's grace?

Further Study:

The Story of Redemption,

pp. 62-71.

God—Constantly Offering



Tuesday

His Covenant



October

Part 3



What words of promise are part of Abram's call and thus offer

THE COVEIJAIJT

God's covenant to him?

WITH ABRAM

"The Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kin-

dred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I

will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your

name great,

that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who

bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the

families of the earth shall bless themselves" (Gen. 12:1-3, RSV).

In this first recorded divine revelation to Abram, God promised

to enter into a close and lasting relationship with him even before

any language is used that speaks about covenant making. (See

Gen. 15:4-21; 17:1-14.) The direct references to the covenant

which God would "make" or "cut," 15:18, "give" 17:2, "estab-

lish" 17:7, 19, 21, or "swear" 22:16 would come later. For the

moment, God offers a divine-human relationship of great signifi-

cance.

The repeated

will" in today's Scripture portion suggests

something of the depth and greatness of God's offer and promise

to Abram. Abram receives but a single, though testing, command,

"Go forth." He obeyed by faith (Heb. 11:8), but not in order to

bring about the promised blessings. His obedience was the re-

sponse of his faith to the loving relationship which

God

had estab-

lished. "Abraham's unquestioning obedience is one of the most

striking evidences of faith to be found in all the

Bible."—Patri-

archs and Prophets,

126. Although there can be no covenant

fellowship and no blessing without obedience, that obedience is

faith's response to what God has already done. Obedience is not

the means of earning fellowship with God nor of gaining blessings

promised by Him.

Was God's covenant with Abram a continuation of His covenant

with Adam, or was it something totally new? (Compare Gen. 3:15;

22:18; and Gal. 3:8, 16;

see

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 370.)

On what basis are you counted righteous? Is it on the basis of

your obedience or on the basis of your faith in Christ's gift of salva-

tion?

"There is not a point that needs to be dwelt upon more ear-

nestly, repeated more frequently, or established more firmly in

the minds of all than the impossibility of fallen man meriting any-

thing by his own best good works. Salvation is through faith in

Jesus Christ alone."—Ellen G. White,

Faith and Works,

p. 19.

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 132-138.

God—Constantly Offering



Wednesday

His Covenant



October 6

Part 4



How was God's initiative expressed for His people enslaved in

COVENANT

Egyptian bondage?

11TH MOSES

"I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you

shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out

from under the burdens of the Egyptians"

(Ex. 6:7, RSV).

For several centuries the descendants of Jacob had lived in

Egyptian bondage, losing "the knowledge of God and of the prin-

ciples of the Abrahamic

covenant."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 371. In His loving-kindness God did not leave them to them-

selves. The earlier relationship between God and man is now

set up again. The Lord says to His chosen people: "I will take

you for my people, and I will be your God" (Ex. 6:7, RSV).

(Compare Deut. 29:12, 13.)

That God would take a people from Egyptian idolatry and

corruption and set them free from degrading slavery rests in the

deep mystery of His love, mercy, and grace (Deut. 4:37; 7:7-9;

10:15). No human reasoning could have expected this mystery to

be revealed by God.

What secret is revealed regarding the source of the covenant

made by God with Israel on Mount Sinai? Deut. 4:37; 10:15.

The source of the covenant relationship lies in the love of

God alone. Deliverance from Egyptian bondage was brought

about by God's mighty power. (See Exodus 5 through 12.) This

loving miracle took place before the offer of the covenant and the

call for Israel's response in obedience and love. The covenant

of God with Israel was an act of His loving-kindness. This love

had been shown earlier in the covenants with Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob. (See Ex. 2:25; Deut. 4:37; 10:15; 14:2; Amos 3:2.)

Upon what does present prosperity in faith and life depend?

The young couple in our China story wondered if the

Lord would not revive the backslidden brother and give

them a preacher. "Anyhow, this case, hopeless as it was,

appeared to be the only possible solution to their problem.

So our bashful Christian and his wife agreed to pray ear-

nestly for this 'lost' preacher whom they knew only from

hearsay."

Further Study:

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 569-571.

God—Constantly Offering



Thursday

His Covenant



October 7

Part 5

THE COVENANT

WITH DAVID

How does the psalmist emphasize that it was God who offered the

covenant to David?

"Thou hast said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant:

will establish your descendants for ever,

and build your throne for all generations' "

(Ps. 89:3, 4, RSV).

The

psalmist expresses in a fourfold way that God took the

step of entering into a covenant relationship with David. Each

item begins with the"I" of God, followed by divine action:

"I have made a covenant."

"I have sworn."

"I will establish your descendants."

"I will . .. build your throne."

The first two

"I"

statements speak about covenant making

while the latter two contain covenant promises.

Note how, in the story of God's covenant with David in 2 Sam-

uel 7:1-17, God takes the first steps. These steps are neither

purchased by man nor influenced by man's desires or ambitions.

They are brought about by the outworking of God's plan of sal-

vation and result from His loving-kindness and mercy (Ps. 89:33,

34).

What marvelous promise about the "seed" of David did God

make? 2 Sam. 7:12.

The promise "I will set up thy seed after thee" was rich in

meaning. We remember the "seed" first mentioned in the prom-

ise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15. There, as a singular noun,

it foretold the many descendants, the multiple offspring, and the

One Person—the single Offspring who was to come in order to

crush Satan's head. The reappearance of "seed" in the prom-

ises to Abraham (Gen. 12:7; etc.), Isaac (26:1-5), and Jacob

(32:12; 35:12) is a striking link in the chain that brings us to the

prediction that the Lord will raise up David's "seed." This

"seed" of David came first in the person of Solomon, who could

not build his kingdom forever. (See 2 Sam. 7:16.) But the "seed"

was finally manifested in the full reality of Jesus Christ, who in

His resurrection established His kingdom forever. (See Acts 2:30-

32.)

In reading 2 Samuel 7:12-17, contemplate how God has brought

about the fulfillment of these promises and how they benefit your

life here and now.

God—Constantly Offering



Friday

His Covenant



October 8

Part 6

THE NEW

COVENANT

What prediction does the Old Testament contain concerning a

new covenant? Jer. 31:31, 33.

This is the only time where the Old Testament refers in so

many words to the "new covenant." This Old Testament

passage led the Alexandrian church father Origen (who lived

about A.D. 185-254) to give to the last 27 books of the Bible the

title

New Testament.

Among the items that link it with earlier covenants is the fact

that this "new covenant" is also offered by God: "I will make a

new covenant" (verse 31). This feature assures us that the di-

vine fellowship that was part of God's design through His pre-

vious covenants was to become a reality in the new covenant: I

"will be their God, and they shall be my people" (verse 33).

In what ways did God make clear that it was He who first moved

to establish those covenants of which the new is the climax? See the

following texts.

God uses repeated action terms as He enters into gracious cov-

enant relationships with man: "I will establish my covenant with

you" (Gen. 6:18; 9:11, RSV), "between me and you" (Gen. 17:7,

RSV). "I will grant my covenant" (Gen. 17:2 [literal translation];

compare Num. 25:12). And, of course, the predominant and lit-

eral "I make ["cut"] a covenant" (Ex. 34:10). (See also Joshua

24:25; Isa. 61:8; etc.)

"Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the covenant

was made that all who were obedient, all who should through the

abundant grace provided, become holy in character, and without

blame before God, by appropriating that grace, should be children

God."—Fundamentals of Christian Education,

p. 403.

By what means can obedience follow acceptance of God's cov-

enant? Jer. 31:33, 34.

"The covenant of grace . . .

offered pardon, and the assisting

grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ."-Pa-

triarchs and Prophets,

p. 370. (Emphasis supplied.)

"Through the measure of

His

[Christ's]

grace furnished to

the human agent,

not one need miss heaven. . . . This is made

the very foundation of the new covenant of the

gospel."—Se-

lected Messages,

bk. 1, pp. 211, 212. (Emphasis supplied.)

Further Study:

The Desire of Ages,

pp. 656-659.

October 10.16

Adult Lesson

DiWO

REAPING

Fl • od

ean

FatRan

vensma

End

"Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark" (Gen.

7:23, RSV).

God's covenant with man had already been included within His

promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 and was reflected in His

promises to Cain (Gen. 4:15). But the covenant idea was not put

into actual words (as we noted last week) until it appeared in God's ad-

dress to Noah before the Flood: "I will establish my covenant

with you" (Gen. 6:18, RSV). Then Noah was instructed that he and

his future family (See Gen. 5:32;

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol.

p. 254) were to enter the ark he was to construct.

This covenant with Noah in the age before the Deluge is part

of God's design, an aspect of His plan of salvation, to save Noah in

the age of universal evil that was to be judged by a Flood. Here

meet divine judgment and mercy, doom and hope, grief and joy.

Noah and those that were with him in the ark were the remnant

of that age (Gen. 7:23). They are known as the faithful and loyal

ones (Gen. 6:8, 9; 7:1)—the faithful remnant that survived the

Flood.

God established His postdiluvian (after the Flood) covenant

with Noah, his family, and every living creature. (See Gen. 9:1-17.)

The blessings of this covenant were not limited to Noah and his

age. Its reach is universal and is pledged for all life and "all future gen-

erations" (verse 12). The covenant sign in the form of the rain-

bow is not a sign over which man has control. It is a symbol of the

covenant between God and the earth (verse 13) and speaks of

God's faithfulness and blessing. It is to bring to God's remembrance,

humanly speaking, His covenant promise that never again shall

waters become a flood to destroy all flesh (verse 15). This "everlast-

ing covenant" (verse 16) benefits all mankind. Despite the fact

that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen.

8:21), the Lord's unfailing mercy will be experienced by all. It is

expected that this bountiful, divine love will bring about a love re-

sponse from man. God desires that all men shall share close com-

munion and fellowship with Himself. Without such communion and

fellowship in the covenant relationship, life was and is without

present meaning or final purpose.

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Sunday

October 10

Part 1

HE SPREAD

OF SIN

What depth had been reached by the destructive work of sin that

began with the Fall?

"God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and

that

every

imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil

continually" (Gen. 6:5).

The divine opinion at the end of God's Creation was that all

"was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Then sin entered the world and

began its work of corruption. God's orderly creation was not only

marred by sin, but rebellion reached terrible proportions by No-

ah's day. As in our day, the spread of sin is depicted in Genesis

4:1 through 6:4 as an ever-growing avalanche, a continually wid-

ening chasm between God and man. There was a downward

trend from disobedience (Gen. 3:1-7) to murder (4:8), to reckless

killing and titanic lust (4:23, 24), to total corruption and violence

(6:1-4).

God's evaluation of man in Noah's day was that "every imagi-

nation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"

(Gen. 6:5). The word "imagination" used here, means "de-

sign," "purpose," or "intent." The "heart" is

the

seat of the

thinking and reasoning powers in man and usually refers to the

mind with all its faculties. God's report on man was shocking.

"Every" purpose, intent, and design of the thoughts of man's in-

ner life was only wicked continually. The intensity of this hu-

man wickedness is expressed with devastating force in the words

"every," "only," "continually." It is hardly possible to state

more emphatically the wickedness of which the human heart is

capable.

What was God's reaction to man's full-blown Flood-time wicked-

ness? Gen. 6:6.

Two human terms describe God's inner reaction:

God "repented" (KJV) or "was sorry" (RSV, NASB) for

having made man.

He was "grieved." "His heart was

filled

with pain" (NIV).

The grief in God's heart contrasts with what goes on in the

human heart. God's heart experiences deep, inner pain and hurt

from man's wickedness. God is not a static, abstract, uncon-

cerned idea, or an inflexible principle. God is a being whose heart

is pained and grieved by man's sin. He is open to the impact of

human sin upon His being.

What grief and pain may my sin and disobedience have caused in

the heart of God today?

Further Study:

The Great Controversy,

pp. 431, 543.

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Monday

October 11



Part 2



What was the Lord's decision in view of the utter disarray caused

HUMAN GM

by the spread and intensity of sin? Gen. 6:7, 12, 13.

AND DIVINE



JUDGMENT



The Lord determined that the massive and continuing spread

of sin must be checked. The kind of wickedness that totally per-

verted the imagination of man's thought called for strong action.

Upon a world fully given over to evil, God resolved to bring

worldwide judgment in the form of a destructive flood that would

wipe out "all flesh." The expression "all flesh" includes "man

and beast and creeping things and birds of the air." Man had led

in filling the earth with "violence," or "wrong."

Ever since the discovery of a flood story in the Babylonian

Gilgamesh Epic in 1872, claims have been made of a connection

between the biblical Flood story and the ones from the ancient,

secular world. Today it is clear that only on the surface is the

biblical Flood account similar to the one in the Gilgamesh Epic.

The biblical narrative has a basically different point of view.

The Flood comes not on account of inner fighting among a

host of gods, but as the true God's judgment upon the wickedness

on earth. Thus the biblical reason for a flood has a moral basis.

This stands in stark contrast to the reasons given in pagan flood

stories where the Flood came by a sudden whim of the gods.

Consider the evidence in the Flood that God did not destroy the

righteous with the wicked. Gen. 6:8, 9.

Three major characteristics of Noah's life were in vivid con-

trast to the evil, violence, and corruption of his generation:

Noah was a "righteous man" (verse 9, RSV, NASB, NIV,

etc.). His righteousness consisted in his total giving of himself to

the Lord. A "righteous person" in the Old Testament stands in

a relationship of faith, trust, and confidence in God with its result-

ing obedience to Him.

Noah was "blameless" (verse 9, RSV, NASB, NIV, etc.) in

his time. His blamelessness was not a state of absolute perfection

or sinlessness. Indeed, sins marked his experience (Gen. 9:20-

29). But he gave himself to God amidst universal apostasy in the

Flood crisis.

Noah "walked with God" (verse 9, RSV, NASB, NIV,

etc.). He is the last member of the antediluvian age and the first of

the postdiluvian age to walk with God. As such he is an example

of the remnant of faith that will survive the world's end (Heb.

11:7).

What is my personal response to the belief that it is possible to live

with Noah's kind of dedication in our time?

Further Study:

Testimonies,

vol.

4, pp. 308-310.

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Tuesday

October 12

With what words does God announce His covenant with Noah?

Part 3

PRE-FLOOD



"With thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into

COVENANT

the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with

WITH NOAH

thee" (Gen. 6:18).

This brief statement includes the principal persons of the bib-

lical covenant that God makes with man; namely, the two part-

ners to the covenant: God and man. Here God makes a covenant

with Noah.

We also find the covenant requirement in the form of a divine

commandment: "You shall enter the ark" (NASB). Obviously,

the covenant idea here is far removed from that of a human type

of compact, contract, alliance, or agreement between God and

Noah. It is God's covenant ("my covenant"); and Noah and his

family, from whom mankind springs forth after the Flood, gain

from it.

In establishing this covenant with the one who, with his family,

is to survive the Flood, God dispenses His bountiful grace.

Man's security in the present and his assurance of salvation in the

future arise out of God's grace and His action. This covenant

makes provision for the future of mankind.

The fact that Scripture here employs the expression "I will

establish" calls for brief consideration. A study of the word "es-

tablish" in comparison with the standard form for making a cov-

enant, for example, "cut a covenant," leads us to suggest that

this verbal form carries the idea of "maintain" or "confirm."

(Compare Deut. 9:5; 27:26; 2 Sam. 7:25; 2 Kings 23:3, 24; etc.)

Thus God's establishment of His covenant is here a maintaining

of a commitment to which He had pledged Himself earlier. In this

sense God's covenant with Noah in Genesis 6:18 may be seen as a

renewal of a covenant with Adam to which the Bible points (Gen.

3:15).

What does the instruction, "You shall enter the ark," reveal

about man's obedience?

The renewed commitment of God to Noah in establishing a

covenant with him before the Flood called for a response of

faith on the part of the one to be helped by the covenant. He is to

enter into the ark that sits on land. It was the ultimate test of faith

and obedience. But the test was passed when Noah with his fam-

ily entered the ark (Gen. 7:13).

What may be tests of faith today in a world of corruption and

wickedness? How can I remain in an intimate covenant relationship

with my Lord?

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Wednesday

October 13



Part 4



With whom did God establish His covenant after the Flood?

POST-FLOOD



COVENANT



"Behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed

WITH NOAH

after you and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl,

of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth" (Gen. 9:9, 10).

This is the first and only covenant in the Bible that is univer-

sal in scope, for it not only embraces Noah and his offspring or

descendants after him but every living creature on land and in the

air.

This broad scope, that includes man, animals, and birds,

demonstrates that some aspects of God's grace are not dependent

upon understanding obedience on the part of the beneficiaries. It

also demonstrates that God's love goes beyond love for man and

includes all His creatures.

The covenant of Genesis 9:8-17 is at times described as an

unconditional covenant, because it does not mention any specific

conditions or obligations for man to fulfill. Whether the instruc-

tions in verses 1-7 are to be thought of as covenant obligations is

not totally clear. In any case it may be assumed that obligations

are a part of this covenant as they are of any other.

What is the covenant provision that God pronounces? Gen. 9:11.

"This 'covenant' contained but one provision and assumed

the form of a divine promise. Regions might be devastated and

animals and men swept away by the hundreds or thousands, but

never again would there be a universal destruction of earth by a

flood."—S.D.A.

Bible Commentary, vol.

1, pp. 264, 265.

Who will experience God's covenant love in the end when the

world will again be destroyed?

(See

Ps. 91:7-9; Matt. 24:36-51.)

In David Lin's story, the young couple had never met the

one-time preacher, "nor did they know where he lived.

They simply prayed in faith that this man might be re-

stored to the Lord's service. They prayed for him for four

days, and on the fourth day an old woman stood at their

door and asked their names. Upon receiving an answer, she

said, 'At last I've found you! My husband has been weeping

for three days, trying to find the Christian believers in our

town. He has repented and wants to come back to the

Lord.' "

Further Study:

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 110.

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Thursday

October 14



Part 5



What was and is the sign of the covenant with Noah?

GOD'S



COVENANT



"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make

SIGN

between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for

all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a

sign of the covenant between me and the earth' " (Gen. 9:12, 13,

RSV).

The Bible knows of three covenants that have definite cov-

enant signs. The covenant with Noah after the Flood has the

sign of the rainbow in the clouds, produced by the refraction and

the reflection of the sun's light through the ball-shaped raindrops

on which the rays fall. The Abrahamic covenant has circumci-

sion as its sign (Gen. 17:11). The Sinaitic (Mosaic) covenant

came to have the Sabbath of Creation as its covenant sign (Ex.

31:13, 16, 17; Eze. 20:12, 20)).

Signs have important functions in the Bible. Signs, by nature,

point to something beyond themselves; they are a pledge or guar-

antee; they may impart knowledge, serve for protection, produce

faith, bring to remembrance, and confirm. Most of these aspects

are present in the sign of the rainbow. In contrast to the other two

covenant signs, the rainbow is not a covenant obligation which is

to be performed by those who benefit from the covenant of God

with His people. The rainbow is an external, physical sign in

the clouds that serves as a reminder to the Lord of His covenant

(Gen. 9:15, 16) that never again shall water become a flood to de-

stroy all flesh. Thus it both reminds us of the covenant and con-

firms that it serves for man's protection. The rainbow also

serves as a remembrance that God once destroyed man in his

wickedness by a Flood; it also guarantees that when clouds

bring rain humankind need not fear another worldwide flood. It

imparts the knowledge that God has kept and will keep His prom-

ise not to bring again a flood to destroy the whole earth. Man also

with Noah experiences the gracious relationship of the covenant

in the stability of the orders of nature. God's faithfulness to His

promise calls upon man to be faithful to God.

"This symbol [the rainbow] in the clouds is to confirm the

belief of all, and establish their confidence in God, for it is a token

of divine mercy and goodness to man; that although God has been

provoked to destroy the earth by the Flood, yet His mercy still

encompasseth the earth. God says when He looketh upon the

bow in the cloud He will remember. He would not have us under-

stand that He would ever forget, but He speaks to man in his own

language, that man may better understand

Him."—The Story of

Redemption,

p. 71.

What does the rainbow mean to you?

Flood, Covenant, and Man's Future



Friday

October 15

Part 6



In what words are Noah and his family described as a surviving

REMNANT

remnant?

OF FAITH

"He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the

ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air;

they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those

that were with him in the ark" (Gen. 7:23, RSV).

It is of major interest to remnant-conscious Seventh-day

Adventists that the first stated mention of a remnant in the Bible

is found in this text. The word translated "was left" is a term

that comes from a word whose different root forms are used many

times for the remnant idea in the Old Testament. (See Gen.

45:7; 47:18; Ex. 8:31; Deut. 3:11; Isa. 4:3; 10:19, 20; 11:11, 16;

17:6; etc.)

Genesis 1 through 3 makes it obvious that creation by God does

not rule out the possibility of destruction. Though created

"good," both creature and creation are open to corruption and

evil. Through the fall of man this possibility became a reality.

By Noah's time sin had reached such proportions, both in extent

and intensity, that God decreed the total destruction of the world

by a Flood.

At that time, the Creator of the world became the Judge of the

world. The nearing worldwide judgment raised the question

whether all life on earth—even human life—would be wiped out

by the announced Flood. If not, who would be the surviving

remnant? The threat of an end to the life that was found only in

God raised the awesome question: Would human life continue?

Once again we find that the answer to the life-and-death question

that is beyond human wisdom is found in God. In mercy He acted

to save Noah and his family. By His deed of grace a righteous and

faithful remnant was saved. Here again it was revealed that God's

ultimate purpose is to save. Even in the global Flood which was

a destructive judgment of proportions beyond our understanding,

God's will and design was to save.

We have seen also that Noah's salvation was linked to God's

covenant with him (Gen. 6:18)—a covenant that grew out of

God's action. The surviving remnant is part of God's plan of

salvation. It is clearly part of the Bible's picture of salvation. (See

Gen. 6:9; 7:1.) Again, it will be such a remnant of faith and trust in

God that will survive the final events of the present age. This

remnant stands in a right relationship with God. It is perfect in its

sphere, and it walks with God. (Compare Rev. 12:17.)

What does the book of Revelation tell you about the last faithful

remnant? See the remnant of the woman (12:17) suffering persecu-

tion by the beast (13:11-18) but being delivered by the Rider

(19:21).

October 17.23

Adult Lesson

DAY5 OF

REAPING

Covenant With

Abraham—

sign for :Ialvation

"I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descen-

dants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant,

to be God to you and to your descendants after you" (Gen. 17:7, RSV).

God's design in making a covenant of an everlasting nature with

Abraham and his offspring was and is "to be God to you." God's will

to save is central to the covenant with Abraham. The main fact

of that saving purpose—and the effect of God's grace—is that the cov-

enant LORD (Yahweh, more accurately than Jehovah) will be the

God of Abraham and his seed.

The idea of the covenant as a relationship between God and

Abraham and his seed demonstrates that Yahweh desires (Gen.

15:7)—as when Adam sinned—to be a saving God. (See

Patri-

archs and Prophets,

p. 370.)

The covenant with Abraham is one of grace and salvation of-

fered by God out of His free love. (See Gen. 12:1-3; 15:7; 17:1, 2, 7.)

This God presented Himself again and again as Yahweh. "I am

thy shield" (15:1), and "Almighty God" (17:1). This self-identifying

God promised to make (Gen. 15:18; 17:2) and establish (Gen.

17:7) a covenant for the benefit of Abraham and his offspring after

him. Like the covenant with Noah after the Flood, this one is

also an "everlasting covenant" (Gen. 17:7). The covenant partners

are Abram—who in view of God's saving design is renamed Abra-

ham—and his descendants in the line of the promised son Isaac (Gen.

17:21).

Those called to the blessings of the promises can either keep

God's covenant (Gen. 17:9, 10) or break it (verse 14). This

shows that this covenant does not yield its rich promises and blessings

to all humans, unless they consent. The intensely spiritual na-

ture of the covenant relationship in which God is to be "their God"

(verse 8) contains obligations that grow out of this divine-human

communion. The keeping of the covenant is not designed to earn

anything, but it is the result of the gifts of God in promises and

blessings. Keeping the covenant is man's faith response to God's en-

abling grace and love.

Covenant With Abraham—



Sunday

Design for Salvation



October 17



Part 1



How did God introduce Himself to Abraham after the waiting

YAHWEH

into old age had brought him no son?

AND THE



ABRAHAMIC



"I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to

COVENANT

give thee this land to inherit it" (Gen. 15:7).

We are introduced to God's covenant name "Yahweh." This

divine address to Abraham is a basic and vital part of the

Abrahamic covenant which God made in three stages (Gen. 12:1-

3; 15:1-21; 17:1-14) over a period of 24 years (12:4; 17:1).

When the Hebrew language was written without vowels, the

name "Yahweh" was written with four letters

YHWH,

to which

later Hebrew scribes (called Masoretes) added the vowels of the

word

'Adonai,

or simply

'Adon,

meaning "Lord," so that a

reader would read "Lord" whenever

YHWH

occurred. It ap-

pears 6828 times in the Old Testament. The purpose of this

rule was to avoid a profaning of God's sacred name. Still later

translators did not know of this rule and mistakenly rendered

YHWH—now supplied with the vowel points from

'Adonai—as

"Jehovah," which is a combination of the consonants of one

name and the vowels of another. Today it is generally agreed

that the best pronunciation of the four letters (tetragrammaton) of

the divine name

YHWH

is Yahweh.

Yahweh is the proper or personal name of God, whereas

"Elohim," normally translated "God," is the descriptive or class

name for God. The identification of Yahweh as the One who

brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, in Genesis 15:7,

refers back to the announcement of God's covenant with Abra-

ham reported in Genesis 12:1-3. In the first place, God wants

Abraham to know His name, because those who know the name

of God (Ps. 9:10; 91:14) know His identity, personal nature, and

character. Thus they may trust and hope in Him. God wants

His followers to know Him as a personal being and not as an ab-

stract deity.

The sure and exact meaning of the name "Yahweh" cannot

be easily established. Entire books have been written on the sub-

ject. Yet on the basis of Exodus 3:14, the name "Yahweh" is ex-

plained by God Himself as "I

AM WHO I

AM" (RSV, NASB).

Here is expressed the reality of God's unconditioned existence,

while His rule over past, present, and future is also suggested. He

is the God in whom is the right and power for Creation and salva-

tion.

What, if any, difference does it make to you to know God's per-

sonal name—to know Him as a real being with a definite identity,

purpose, and character?

Further Study:

Acts 7:1-8.

Covenant With Abraham—



Monday

Design for Salvation



October 18

Part 2

lIGHTY GOD

What name did God use of Himself at the closing stage of making

covenants with Abraham?

"When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared

to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before

me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1).

Yahweh, who had appeared to Abraham several times before in

various situations (Gen. 12:1, 7; 13:14; 15:1, 7, 18) presents Him-

self to him now as "Almighty God.

"This name of God,

'El-

Shaddai,

is found only in the books of Genesis and Job. 6 times in

the former and 31 times in the latter."—S.D.A.

Bible Commen-

tary, vol.

1, p. 320.

The name "Almighty God" consists of

'El—the

basic name

for God among the Semites and for the most part used as having

the same meaning as Yahweh (compare Num. 23:8, 21; Ps. 16:1,

2; 85:8; Isa. 42:5)—and

Shaddai,

the exact origin and meaning of

which is not entirely certain. The translation "Almighty"

(KJV, RSV, NASB) seems most nearly correct. (Compare Isa.

13:6; Joel 1:15.) The emphasis on "might" over against the

frailty of man, who is hard-pressed and in need of reassurance,

fits the experience of Abraham.

When God began to establish His covenant with Abraham al-

most a quarter century before, He repeatedly promised Abraham

a child. After 10 years had passed, Abraham took things into his

own hands, married Hagar, and fathered Ishmael. Almost 15

years later, when Abraham had reached the advanced age of 99,

God reaffirmed His covenant and announced that it should be es-

tablished with the birth of a son—Isaac, to be exact—to be born

within a year (Gen. 17:21). At this crucial point God introduced

Himself as the "Almighty God" for whom nothing was or is im-

possible.

Frail men and women today, wavering in faith, may be fully

assured when they are hard-pressed by circumstances beyond

their control that the covenant God is truly an "Almighty God."

"Imagine the rejoicing [among the little group of believ-

ers in Lin's story] as the sisters and the one lone brother

met to welcome this fallen preacher back to the Lord's fold.

They asked him to preach, so he opened the Word of God

and tried to speak. But hardly had he said a few words than

he began to choke and sob. Every time he opened his

mouth, tears would roll down his cheeks. For he could

not forget how long he had left his Lord and how graciously

He had forgiven him."

Covenant With Abraham—



Tuesday

Design for Salvation



October 19



Part 3



To whom did God make covenant promises whose benefits were

COVENANT

to extend far into the future?

RECIPIENT-



PARTNER



"On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,

`To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the

great river, the river Euphrates' " (Gen. 15:18, RSV).

God's choice of Abram was not based on inheritance or natural

talents which called for a reward. Abram was, however, "faithful

among the faithless, uncorrupted by the prevailing apostasy."

"He steadfastly adhered to the worship of the one true God."—

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 125. Although Abram was faithful in

his father's house, (see Joshua 24:2), this faithfulness must not be

seen as a merit that earned him the right to be chosen by God.

God's choice is always grounded in divine love, grace, and

mercy. (See Deut. 7:6-11.) The biblical record of Abram's expe-

riences reveals a number of actions unworthy of one to whom

God granted the honor of becoming a partner in His covenant.

(See Gen. 12:10-20; 16:1-16; 20:1-18.). Yet Abraham's pilgrimage

as God's covenant partner reveals a continuing growth and ad-

vancement that reached heights of faith virtually unequaled in hu-

man history. (See Gen. 12:1-4; 18:22, 33; 22:1-14.)

Why did Abram receive a new name at the conclusion of a later

covenant-making conversation? Gen. 17:4, 5.

Names were of great importance in the ancient world, and the

giving of names was not taken lightly. Frequently significant

religious meaning was associated with the giving of personal

names in the Old Testament. For example, the change of a

name may have matched a change of character (Gen. 32:28;

2 Sam. 12:24, 25; etc.), or it may have indicated a change of rela-

tionship (Gen. 41:45; 2 Kings 23:34; 24:17; Dan. 1:7).

Abram is the first of several persons whose name God changed.

Abram means "Father is exalted." The Lord changed his

name to Abraham, "Father of a multitude," indicating that the

new covenant relationship is sealed and the divine promise is cer-

tain. "I have made you the father of a multitude of nations" (Gen.

17:5, RSV).

What does it mean to you personally to be a partner in God's

covenant and to be one of the "inheritors of the covenant prom-

ises"? (See

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 476.)

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 135-137.

Covenant With Abraham—



Wednesday

Design for Salvation



October 20



Part 4



"Now the Lord said to Abram,



MAKING THE



" 'Go

forth from your country,



COVENANT



And from your relatives

And from your father's house,

To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation" (Gen. 12:1, 2, NASB).

The first stage of the covenant combines divine right to pro-

pose, to command, and to promise. The divine approach ex-

presses God's gracious election of Abram to be the first major

figure of His special covenant of grace. The divine command

involves the test of total trust in God and in His guidance. "By

faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place

which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not

knowing where he was to go" (Heb. 11:8, RSV). The divine

promise in Genesis 12:1-3, 7 includes the whole human race, all

families and nations and all periods in time. From the begin-

ning, the covenant with Abraham makes provision for the salva-

tion of the whole of humankind. (See Gen. 12:3; 18:18; Rom. 4:13-

17; Gal. 3:6-9.)

What was the next stage in the covenant-making process? Gen.

15:7-21.

Here we find divine initiative or right to propose (verse 7) and

to command (verse 9); followed by man's obedience (verses 10,

11); divine promise (verses 13-15); and moving on to a high point

in the covenant-making ritual (verse 17). An appearance of the

Lord passed between the cut and carefully arranged pieces of ani-

mals. In this solemn ritual, the Lord bound Himself in promise to

Abram and his future offspring of faith. "The Lord conde-

scended to enter into a covenant with His servant, employing

such forms as were customary among men for the ratification of a

solemn

engagement."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 137.

What took place at the third and final stage of divine covenant

making with Abraham? Gen. 17:1-14.

Two additional aspects stand out in this final stage of the cov-

enant-making process: (I) The change of Abram's name, which

indicates the changed status of Abraham before God. As man of

God and father of the faithful, he, by his seed, would bless the

whole world. (2) The rite of circumcision of the flesh, which is a

sign of God's everlasting covenant. "By this rite they [Abraham's

descendants] were pledged to fulfill, on their part, the conditions

of the covenant made with

Abraham."—Patriarchs and Proph-

ets,

p. 138.

Covenant With Abram—



Thursday

Design for Salvation



October 21



Part



"God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant,

KEEPING THE

you and your descendants after you throughout their generations."



COVENANT



"Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of

his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my cov-

enant" (Gen. 17:9, 14, RSV).

God calls upon Abraham and his descendants to "keep" His

covenant. The word "keep" is the same term used for the keep-

ing of the later covenants. All of them contain obligations or laws

that need to be kept. The same term "keep" appears about 50

times in Deuteronomy for the keeping of commandments (Deut.

4:2; etc.). Various parts of the Scriptures refer to the keeping of

the weekly Sabbath as well as certain feasts.

Use of the word for "break" (Hebrew

pdrar)

at the end of

God's covenant making shows that the Abrahamic covenant can

indeed also be "broken." It is worthy of note that this term ap-

pears frequently (22 times) and is the one most used for the idea of

breaking a covenant. (Compare Lev. 26:15; Deut. 31:16, 20; Isa.

24:5; Jer. 11:10; 31:32; Eze. 16:59; 44:7; etc.) Evidently God's

covenant with Abraham can be kept or broken by those who

stand or are yet to stand within this covenant. As far as the human

partners in this covenant are concerned, its promises are based on

conditions.

How was Abraham to keep the covenant? How would God fulfill

the covenant promises? Gen. 18:19; 22:16-18; 26:1-5.

In His grace, God had chosen ("known"—compare Amos 3:2;

Hosea 13:4) Abraham as His instrument to instruct his offspring.

God's fulfillment of His covenant promises was linked to Abra-

ham's willingness to do righteously. Genesis 18:19 demonstrates

how grace and law are related. It opens with

grace

("I know

him") and is followed by

law

which demands a faith response

("command"; "keep the way, . . . do justice and judgment")

("righteousness and justice," RSV) through which God's cov-

enant

grace

may eventually reach its goal ("that the LORD may

bring . . . what he has promised," RSV). Abraham's faith re-

sponse is manifested in obedience. This was shown especially

in the willingness to sacrifice Isaac through whom the covenant

promises were to be carried out (Gen. 22:16-18). Abraham is the

model of the person who is justified by faith (Gen. 15:6) and also

demonstrates that this faith produces obedience to God's law

(Gen. 26:5).

In your own experience, how do you harmonize God's free grace

and the obligation to accept and keep the covenant He offers?

Further

Study:Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 140-142;

Selected

Messages,

bk. 3, p. 195.

Covenant With Abraham—



Friday

Design for Salvation



October 22

Part 6



"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you

3CUMCISION

and thy seed after thee. Every man child among you shall be cir-

-COVENANT

cumcised" (Gen. 17:10).

SIGN

Abraham was given specific instruction regarding who should

be circumcised and thus become a part of the covenant and its

people or community. God appointed circumcision as His "sign

of the covenant between me and you" (Gen. 17:11, RSV).

As a covenant sign, circumcision "was destined: (1) to distin-

guish the seed of Abraham from the Gentiles (Eph. 2:11), (2) to

perpetuate the memory of Jehovah's covenant (Gen. 17:11), (3) to

foster the cultivation of moral purity (Deut. 10:16), (4) to repre-

sent righteousness by faith (Rom. 4:11), (5) to symbolize circum-

cision of the heart (Rom. 2:29), and (6) to foreshadow the Chris-

tian rite of baptism (Col. 2:11,

12)."—S.D.A. Bible Commentary,

vol.

1, pp. 322, 323.

Is circumcision still a valid covenant sign for Christians today? If

not, why not? Rom. 2:28, 29; Col. 2:11, 12.

The New Testament position on circumcision leaves no

doubt. Paul explains that "real circumcision is a matter of the

heart, spiritual and not literal" (Rom. 2:29, RSV). The New

Testament insists that for the Christian believer neither phys-

ical circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything (1 Cor.

7:19), but only "faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6, RSV), "a

new creation" (Gal. 6:15), "keeping the commandments of God"

(1 Cor. 7:19).

The external sign of circumcision as a physical rite faded into

insignificance, but the spiritual sense of symbolizing a covenant

relationship remained valid and is even intensified in that "the

circumcision of Christ" is "putting off the body of flesh" (Col.

2:11, RSV)—a putting away of self and human weakness. This

spiritual circumcision, "made without hands" (verse 11), is mani-

fested in baptism (verse 12).

What do you understand the circumcision of the heart to consist

of, and by whom is it accomplished?

"It is God that circumcises the heart. The whole work is the

Lord's from the beginning to the

end."—Selected Messages,

bk.

_ 1, p. 392.

"True circumcision is the worship of Christ in spirit and

truth, not in forms and ceremonies, with hypocritical pre-

tense."—Fundamentals of Christian Education,

p. 399.

Further Study:

The Acts of the Apostles,

pp. 189-192.

October 24.30

Adult Lesson

•

imminno

[10:1/7

DAYS OF

REAPING

Covenant



uses

to Abraham

"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt.

28:20).

These are the closing words of Christ's great gospel commis-

sion. They tell us again that the three-in-one God of the Bible is the

God of promise. Just as the risen One is about to return to

heaven, He Himself promises His followers His continuing presence.

From the first promise in the Garden of Eden—a promise of a

Saviour to come (Gen. 3:15)—to the last promise in the Bible—a

promise that Jesus Christ will come again (Rev. 22:20)—all divine

promises come together in the promise of God to bring salvation.

While still separated from Christ, the Gentiles were "foreigners

to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the

world. But in Christ Jesus those who once were far away have

been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:12, 13, NIV).

They "are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens

with God's people and members of God's household, built on the

foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself

as the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:19, 20, NIV).

The promise theme weaves its way through the Bible, stand-

ing out like a scarlet thread. Some have claimed that the promise

theme is the one and only theme that unites the first five books of

the Bible, the books of Moses. Others have suggested that it is the key

theme of the entire Bible. Even if these claims cannot be fully

upheld, it is certain that to the helpless the promises of God are like

leaves from the tree of life. "Make the promises of God your own.

Then when test and trial come, these promises will be to you glad

springs of heavenly comfort."—My

Life Today,

p. 28.

The most profound promises, of course, are the covenant prom-

ises. Among them are those associated with the covenant with

Abraham. God promised His constant presence; He promised to be a

"shield" (Gen. 15:1); He gave a promise of the Messiah to come

through the seed of Abraham; He promised to make Abraham a great

and mighty nation; He promised to make the name of Abraham

great; He promised to give him and his offspring a land of their own;

and He also promised to bless the families of earth through him.

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Sunday

October 24



Part 1



What description of Himself does God employ when He appears

GOD OF

to Abram in a vision?

COVENANT



PROMISE



"Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very

great" (Gen. 15:1, RSV).

In a previous lesson we studied how God presented Himself as

Yahweh (Gen. 12:1; 15:7)—His personal name used to point to

the covenant God. We also noted the name "Almighty God"

(Gen. 17:1), by which He pointed to His might and power in the

fulfillment of the divine promises.

In our text of the day God addresses Abraham with a greeting

of encouragement: "Fear not." This was appropriate, for

Abraham had given evidence of human weakness, because "his

mind was so oppressed by forebodings that he could not now

grasp the promise with unquestioning confidence as heretofore.

. . . And how was the covenant promise to be realized, while the

gift of a son was

withheld?"—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 136.

While he struggled with the natural fears of the human heart (and

thought to adopt Eliezer as his heir—see Gen. 15:2, 3), and with

believing God's promises, God came to Abraham in a vision and

presented Himself with this statement: "I am your shield."

God's self-presentation with the words "your shield" shows in

the pronoun "your" the personal and intimate interest of God in

the affairs of the one whose faith is wavering. The designation

of God as "shield" appears here for the first time in the Bible and

is the only time it is employed by God in giving a revelation of

Himself. Later on it is used by individuals to speak about God.

(See Deut. 33:29; Ps. 18:2, 30; 84:11; 144:2.) Thus God is the

believer's "shield," that is, a protection. The "shield" or pro-

tection aspect of the nature of God is not in this instance a phys-

ical protection in war or misfortune but a protection or guarantee

of the promise of God which was to be fulfilled through Abraham

and his future seed.

As we think of the Lord as the "shield" of repentant sin-

ners, we go back to David Lin's recent story from China.

"Every time [the penitent preacher] opened his mouth,

tears would roll down his cheeks. For he could not forget

how long he had left his Lord and how graciously He had

forgiven him. But his tearful, stammering words comprised

a living example and illustration of the 'humble and contrite

heart' which God will not despise."

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Monday

October 25



Part 2



What promise of covenant communion did God make to Jacob?

COVENANT



PROMISE OF



"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, . . .

DIVINE

for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken

PRESENCE

to you" (Gen. 28:15, RSV).

God appeared as in person to His servants in visions, in

dreams, and other special ways on specific occasions. However,

beyond these special and almost rare manifestations of God dur-

ing the long centuries of the history of salvation, there is the

promise of God's continuing presence, "I am [will be] with you."

This promise of God's continuing presence and intimate

companionship weaves itself throughout the Old Testament

and into the New as a red thread. It presents the covenant Lord

not merely as one who appears on special occasions in mighty

self-manifestations, but it presents Him primarily and uniquely as

a God who is constantly and actively present with His servants

and His people as a guiding, leading, and accompanying Lord.

This divine presence reaches forward in messianic hope to the

coming of One called "Immanuel," "God with us" (Isa. 7:14;

Matt. 1:23), who in turn promises: "I am with you alway" (Matt.

28:20).

Notice two New Testament examples of the continuing theme of

the presence of the God of promises. John 17:24; Acts 18:10.

Jesus' high-priestly prayer expresses the Lord's desire that

those who are given to Jesus "may be with me where I am" (John

17:24). This wish expresses the ultimate goal of the divine

promise of being with the saved. But until this goal of a total and

completely undisturbed communion in the full, unveiled presence

of God can be realized, the promise "I will be with you" remains

a determining factor in the believer's life (Acts 18:10). It enables

him to be a Christian and to proclaim the gospel.

What repetition of the promise does the Risen One leave with His

followers before His ascension? Matt. 28:20.

The community of faith is the community of the presence of

God, and thus it is called to be an evangelizing church which has a

worldwide task to announce that the promised Seed through

whom all the families of the earth will be blessed has come once

and will come again.

What does the experience of Jesus' continuing presence in my life

and activities really mean to me?

Further Study:

The Desire of Ages,

pp. 166, 825, 830, 831.

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Tuesday

October 26



Part 3



What marvelous messianic promise given to Abraham was re-

COVENANT

peated to Jacob?

'ROMISE FOR



%LL FAMILIES



"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth

thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen.

12:3).

In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be

blessed" Gen. 28:14).

This is no narrow promise of limited scope. This promise

runs counter to any limited grouping or narrow nationalistic ex-

pectation. The horizon of this promise is expansive, its dimen-

sions are universal. The scope of the blessing is all-inclusive; its

benefits are unrestricted in every respect: "In thy seed shall all

the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3).

Some modern translations render the words "be blessed" in

Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 26:4; and 28:14 as "bless themselves." With-

out attempting to discuss the ins and outs of Hebrew verbal

forms, we may suggest that there are solid grounds for keeping

the translations "will be blessed" as expressing what the texts

wish to state.

The word "seed" also translated as "offspring" or "descen-

dants," is a singular noun in the Hebrew text which may refer to

an individual or a group, depending on the setting. The blessing

that comes to all the families of the earth through the promised

"seed" finds its complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Note how the New Testament points to the fulfillment of this

promise in Jesus Christ. Acts 3:25, 26; Gal. 3:8, 16.

The apostle Peter in his second sermon applies Genesis 12:3;

18:18; 22:18 to God's servant. The apostle Paul builds a forceful

argument upon the word "seed" in Galatians 3:8, 16 and applies it

to Christ. Paul made it clear that the physical descent from Abra-

ham was no guarantee of the spiritual relationship, which is by

faith. This high point is reached in Galatians 3:29: "If you are

Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to

promise" (RSV).

David Lin's penitent preacher in the great country of

China became a powerful witness to the covenant-keeping

and prayer-answering God. His tearful witness "had a won-

derful effect in winning souls to Christ, and whole families

were converted by this 67-year-old weeping preacher."

The covenant promises know no limitation in this whole

world and may far outreach our knowledge of their effect.

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Wednesday

October 27



Part 4



What did God promise regarding the making of a nation, and

COVENANT

where and how was it to be fulfilled?

PROMISE OF A



GREAT NATION



"I will make of you a great nation" (Gen. 12:2, RSV).

"Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation" (Gen.

18:18, NASB).

"I will there [Egypt] make of you a great nation" (Gen. 46:3,

RSV).

When Abraham was without descendants or even a son, the

covenant God not only promised both (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:18;

17:16, 19, 20; etc.), but also promised to make Abraham a great

and mighty nation. This promise did not find fulfillment in the

days of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God repeated

it to Jacob with the added information that it would be fulfilled in

Egypt. God brings about His will in His own way and in His own

time.

In what ways is the fulfillment of the same promise later re-

counted and referred to? Deut. 26:5; Ex. 19:5, 6.

When Jacob and his family were "few in number"—namely, 70

people (see Gen. 46:27)—they moved down to Egypt. From

that small beginning and as foreigners, the descendants of Jacob

became a powerful and populous nation (Deut. 26:5). In Egypt,

Israel did not have land or hope of obtaining any. Yet in God's

miraculous ways they had become a "nation."

In size they were a "nation" in Egypt, but as a religious com-

munity under covenant with God, they did not become a "na-

tion" until they entered this covenant relationship with Yahweh

at Mount Sinai. From that point they were to function as "a

holy nation," set apart to worship and serve the Lord.

To be called "a holy nation," Israel was not to feel superior,

but to be reminded of these facts:

Their gracious election by God.

His activity in establishing them as a nation.

Their responsibility to fulfill their God-given task in the

world.

Thus Israel did not actually owe its existence as a nation to

political wisdom or to territorial expansion. Rather, it was based

upon God's promisory actions in history. As a result, she should

glorify God, serve Him, and bring blessings to neighboring Gen-

tile nations and to the world at large.

In view of 1 Peter 2:9, what does it mean to you to belong to "an

holy nation"?

Further Study:

Testimonies,

vol. 2, p. 105.

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Thursday

October 28



Part 5



What was God's design in His promise concerning Abraham's

COVENANT

name?

IOMISE OF A



IREAT NAME



will bless you, and make your name great" (Gen. 12:2, RSV).

The human attempt to make a "name"—to gain reputation,

fame, renown, and so on—is the constantly repeated story of hu-

man history. Even in the Bible we learn that David won a name

for himself through his military undertakings (1 Sam. 18:30;

2 Sam. 8:13). In Proverbs 22:1 and Ecclesiastes 7:1, "name" by

itself means a good reputation, which is of supreme worth. To

have a "great name" means something extraordinary.

The builders of the Tower of Babel sought "renown,"

"glory," and "fame" through the magnitude of their work.

They said to themselves, "Let us make a name for ourselves"

(Gen. 11:4, RSV). But they failed miserably in their driving ambi-

tion. The contrast to Abraham is stark. He was called out from

the land of his fathers, out of a situation where a name had mean-

ing and standing. But in the divine promise, "I will bless you, and

make your name great" (Gen. 12:2), the covenant God Himself

pledges to donate to one man, on His own grounds, what others

so selfishly sought and failed to attain. In His grace God does

what no person of faith can do for himself or herself.

What is the source of true greatness in a name? (Compare Gen.

5:2 with today's text.)

"True greatness was to result from compliance with God's

commands and cooperation with His divine purpose."—S.D.A.

Bible Commentary, vol.

1, p. 293.

"Abraham could not explain the leadings of Providence; he had

not realized his expectations; but he held fast the promise, 'I will

bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a bless-

ing.' .

"The Lord in His providence had brought this trial [famine in

Canaan] upon Abraham to teach him lessons of submission, pa-

tience, and faith—lessons that were to be placed on record for the

benefit of all who should afterward be called to endure affliction.

God leads His children by a way that they know not, but He does

not forget or cast off those who put their trust in

Him."—Patri-

archs and Prophets,

p. 129.

Is your name made great through the activity of God in your life

and your constant trust in Him?

Further Study:

Christ's Object Lessons,

"The Lord's Vine-

yard," pp. 286, 287.

Covenant Promises to Abraham



Friday

October 29



Part 6



What promise regarding a land did God give to Abraham, who

COVENANT

was called out from his own country?

PROMISE OF



A LAND



"Go from your country . . . to the land that I will show you"

(Gen. 12:1, RSV).

God's call to Abraham to move from "your country [land]" to

"the land that I will show you" suggests that he was being tested.

Would he respond in faith that would show itself in obedience to

God's command?

"It was no light test that was thus brought upon Abraham, no

small sacrifice that was required of him. . . . But he did not hesi-

tate to obey the call. He had no question to ask concerning the

land of promise. . . . God had spoken, and His servant must obey;

the happiest place on earth for him was the place where God

would have him to

be."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 126.

How and when was the promise of the inheritance of the land

repeated by God? Gen. 12:7; 26:2-5; 35:12.

When Abraham had entered Canaan, the Lord appeared to him

and made it clear that while he was to sojourn in the land it would

be given to his seed (Gen. 12:7). This promise was repeated

after he and Lot had separated (13:14, 15, 17), at the covenant

ratification ceremony (15:13, 16, 18), and in the final phase of cov-

enant making (17:8). It was late given as a promise to Isaac (26:

2-5) and Jacob (28:13, 15: 35:12). Some 400 years later (Gen.

15:13, 16), in fulfillment of the promise, the Lord announced to

Moses that He would bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt into

a good land, flowing milk and honey (Ex. 3:8, 17; 6:8). To

Joshua, the promise was repeated (Joshua 1:3), and in David's

day it was largely but not completely fulfilled. (See Gen. 15:18-21;

2 Sam. 8:1-14; 1 Chron. 19:1-19; 1 Kings 4:21.)

In what ways is the promise of the land to be fulfilled to the people

of faith? Heb. 11:13-16.

The people described in these verses were living by faith.

Even though they died not having received the land promised

them, they were looking for a better land—a heavenly one.

Thus Palestine and Jerusalem are still not the true home for

those who are living by faith, and for this reason they are de-

scribed as aliens and strangers on earth. The true land for all

men and women of faith is a heavenly one, just as the city of the

faithful is not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly one.

Further Study:

Testimonies, vol. 5,

188;

Patriarchs and

Prophets,

p. 170.

•

October 31 to November 6

Adult Lesson

DAYS OF

REAPING

The True Israel

of God

"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people

belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you

out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9, NIV).

A key question today is the identity of "the Israel of God"

(Gal. 6:16). When people hear the name "Israel," various ideas may

come to mind. Bible students may think of the Old Testament

people of God. Others may think of the state of Israel which was

founded in 1948. Others believe the Israel of God will be a people

that will exist on earth for a thousand-year reign.

The question remains: What is the true "Israel of God"? Is it

made up of blood descendants of Abraham? those who hold citizen-

ship in the state of Israel today? Jews or Christians? Is it made up

of the church?

This week's study seeks to answer these questions on the ba-

sis of the evidence provided in Scripture. Obviously it will not be pos-

sible to study the 2514 usages of the word "Israel" in the Old

Testament or the 68 times it appears in the New Testament. We

need not look at Israel as a personal name for Jacob or as the title

of the northern kingdom when Israel was divided. We are, however,

anxious to learn what the true Israel of God was in the Old Tes-

tament period of time.

God ultimately had to declare to Israel: "You are not my peo-

ple and I am not your God" (Hosea 1:9, RSV). Instead of being "sons

of the living God" (Hosea 1:10; compare Ex. 4:22, 23; Deut. 14:1;

32:5, 19, 20; Isa. 43:6; 45:11; Jer. 3:14, 19, 22), they turned into sons or

children that had forsaken the Lord (Jer. 5:7), "children of har-

lotry" (Hosea 2:4), and rebellious sons (Eze. 20:21). God 'could no

longer claim them as the true Israel. But within the apostate na-

tion of Israel there was a faithful and holy remnant (Isa. 6:13; 4:3;

10:20-22; etc.) that God would save. In time, this faithful remnant

of Israel formed the beginnings of the New Testament church. (See

Gal. 3:29, 7). Men of faith are the spiritual sons of Abraham.

(Compare verses 9, 14.)

The True Israel of God



Sunday

October 31



Part 1



What does God reveal about His election of Israel?

ISRAEL



BECOMES



"You are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God

A NATION

has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the

peoples that are on the face of the earth" (Deut. 7:6, RSV).

The election of Israel as a "holy people" (compare Deut.

14:2; 28:9, 10)—as God's treasured possession—was grounded in

action taken by the Lord. The picture of Israel as a "holy peo-

ple" did not reveal any merit of theirs, but resulted rather from

divine choice. God had separated them or cut them off from other

peoples with their pagan practices. This is suggested by the

original meaning of "holy" (Hebrew,

qados).

What was God's purpose for making ancient Israel His covenant

people? Ex. 19:6.

The definite way in which God describes His purpose for Is-

rael must not escape our attention. The divine words, "And

you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex.

19:6, RSV), clearly stress that the physical Israel of old—the Is-

rael which was the offspring of the patriarchal line of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob—was not called into existence merely as an-

other secular nation.

The essential factor was that Israel was to be a "kingdom of

priests" and a "holy nation." The expression "kingdom of

priests" was neither a synonym for "holy nation" nor could it be

reduced to the idea of royal priests or priest-kings. The words

"kingdom of priests" reveal that Israel as a covenant people was

not to be simply one among many earthly states, but as God's

priestly kingdom Israel was to do service among and for the na-

tions of the world as priests who serve within a society.

The expression "holy nation" continues to emphasize this

special call of Israel. The idea of being "holy" does not mean a

better-than-thou status. Rather, it indicates that Israel was to be

set apart from other nations for sacred purposes. Israel was to

belong to God and was to reveal the covenant relationship with

God in the total quality of her life and existence. When she failed

to do this, Israel was not the true Israel of God but simply a politi-

cal-rIational people.

If Israel of old

was

to live and act as God's representative in ser-

vice to the world, how do I live and act as a member of God's spiri-

tual Israel today?

(See

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 607.)

Further Study:

Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Corn-

mentary, vol.

4, pp. 1080, 1081.

The True Israel of God



Monday

November 1

Part 2



"The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you,

THE LAND

and I will give the land to your descendants after you" (Gen. 35:12,

OF ISRAEL RSV).

As we saw in last week's study, the promise that a land would

be given to God's people, Israel, was first given to Abraham, then

repeated to Isaac and Jacob. Joseph's deathbed words repeated

this promise (Gen. 50:24).

God informed Abraham that "four hundred years" would pass

before the seed of Abraham would take possession of the land

(Gen. 15:13, 16). Fulfillment of the promise began in the days of

Moses and Joshua. Moses repeated the divine command: "Be-

hold, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of

the land" (Deut. 1:8, RSV).

What

was

the territorial extent of the Promised Land? Gen.

15:18-21; Deut. 11:24; Joshua 1:4.

The land promised to Abraham included the territory

bounded by the Euphrates River on the northeast, the "entrance

of Hamath" to the north, the "great sea" (Mediterranean) on the

west, the "river of Egypt" (Nile) on the south, and the wilderness

on the east. The extent of the land promised to Moses (Ex.

23:31, was almost the same.

What effect did Israel's loyalty to God have upon her receiving

and keeping the Promised Land? Num. 14:22, 23; 32:11; Deut.

28:58, 63.

God had clearly warned, "If in spite of this, you do not obey

Me, . . . I will make the land desolate. . . . You, however, I will

scatter among the nations" (Lev. 26:27-33, NASB). Disobedi-

ence by Israel would bring loss of the Promised Land. God never

made an unconditional promise that the land would be given to

Israel and that it would be their possession forever.

Are there any unconditional promises? How far can man frus-

trate God's promises? (Consider Jer. 18:7-10; Jonah 3:10; Eze.

18:21-32.)

"It should be remembered that the promises and threatenings

of God are alike conditional."—Selected

Messages,

bk. 1, p. 67.

"Not by any temporary failure of Israel, however, was the plan

of the ages for the redemption of mankind to be frustrated."—

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 705, 706.

Further Study:

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 17-22.

The True Israel of God



uesday

November 2



Part 3



How did Israel respond to God's covenant and its promises?

ISRAEL



AND THE



"Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but every one walked

COVENANT

in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon

them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to

do, but they did not" (Jer. 11:8, RSV).

The story of ancient Israel—from their founding as a nation

at Sinai, when God entered into a loving covenant relationship

with them (Ex. 19:1-8; 24:1-11)—was one of stubborn disobedi-

ence. Instead of being a dedicated and separated "kingdom of

priests" and "holy nation," they became a "people laden with

iniquity" (Isa. 1:4, RSV). Time and again God sent His proph-

ets to plead with them to return to their high calling, but the peo-

ple "deeply corrupted themselves" (Hosea 9:9, RSV) and were

bent on turning away from God (Hosea 11:7; Amos 3:1, 2; Eze.

16:2, 3; 23:1-49).

What would God do in the face of continuous disobedience?

2 Chron. 7:19, 20.

God's marvelous promises could only become real if Israel

would be faithful. "This shall come to pass, if you will

diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Zech. 6:15,

RSV). But if they were disobedient, God could not bless them.

Not only would God withhold His blessings, but, in harmony with

the covenant terms, He would pluck them up from the Promised

Land and scatter them among the nations in hope that they would

learn faithfulness and obedience. God did not desire to punish His

people (Hosea 11:8, 9), but their continued unfaithfulness left

Him with no other choice.

Even after Israel's exile to heathen lands, those who returned

did not live up to God's plan for them. Of the Christ, it is written:

"He came to his own home, and his own people received him

not" (John 1:11, RSV).

What does the failure of ancient Israel to show God's love for the

world tell you about your part in God's plan?

(See

Eph. 6:10-18.)

"We must know that Jesus is indeed ours; that His Spirit is pu-

rifying and refining our hearts. If the followers of Christ had genu-

ine faith, with meekness and love, what a work they might accom-

plish! What fruit would be seen to the glory of God!"—My

Life

Today,

p. 13.

Further Study:

Christ's Object Lessons,

"A Great Gulf

Fixed," pp. 268-270.

The True Israel of God



Wednesday

November 3

Part 4



What difference did God see between the faithful remnant of Is-

IE REMNANT

rael and the political-national Israel of Old Testament times?

AS TRUE

ISRAEL



will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people,

and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel

shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue

be found in their mouth" (Zeph. 3:12, 13).

Although God's plan for ancient Israel as a political-national

entity was spoiled by the nation's long history of disobedience

and unfaithfulness, it was never completely frustrated. Within na-

tional, unfaithful Israel there were faithful Israelites—for exam-

ple, Elijah and the 7000 who would not bow their knees to Baal

(1 Kings 19:14, 18).

Many of the Old Testament prophets speak of this faithful

remnant which God would gather unto Himself. Such a remnant

of Israel would have accepted the Lord's rulership (Micah 4:6, 7;

compare 2:12, 13). They were a "holy seed" (Isa. 6:13), a holy

remnant; they were "recorded for life" (Isa. 4:3). This faithful

remnant was a religious body not a national one, with a "new

heart" and a "new spirit," and would live on the basis of the

"new covenant" (Jer. 31:31-34).

The purpose of God in creating and preserving a faithful rem-

nant from national-political Israel was to make them the carriers

of the promises of God. He would also use them as divinely ap-

pointed instruments for declaring "my glory among the nations"

(Isa. 66:19, RSV), universally among "all nations and tongues"

(verse 18). By this means others would join the faithful to "wor-

ship the king, the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 14:16, RSV). Thus

the faithful remnant was made up of those within the apostate na-

tion of Israel who were true to Yahweh. The Old Testament

looked forward to the development of a true spiritual Israel that

would include faithful descendants of Abraham and faithful be-

lievers drawn from the Gentile nations.

What does the New Testament say regarding the true Israel?

Rom. 9:4-8; Eph. 2:11-19; Gal. 6:15, 16.

As we have noted, the New Testament uses the word "Is-

rael" in 68 places. In three of these "Israel" clearly refers to the

church. Blood descent from Abraham alone was never in itself a

guarantee of membership in the true Israel. As Paul showed from

the Old Testament, "not all who are descended from Israel be-

long to Israel" (Rom. 9:6, RSV). Rather, the true Israel is "a rem-

nant, chosen by grace" (Rom. 11:5, RSV). It is "a new creation"

(Gal. 6:15).

Further Study:

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 367-378.

The True Israel of God



Thursday

November 4

Part 5

HEIRS OF

THE PROMISE

To whom do all God's promises belong, and who are the heirs

according to promise?

"Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his off-

spring."

"If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs

according to promise" (Gal. 3:16, 29, RSV).

The sustained argument of Paul in the third chapter of Gala-

tians is that people are saved by faith and that it is "men of faith

who are the sons of Abraham" (verse 7, RSV). The promise of

salvation belongs to men and women of faith (verse 9) and not just

to those who claim blood descent from Abraham. Some Jewish

Christians in Paul's time claimed that Gentiles were to share in

the promised blessing made to Abraham provided that they would

worship the Lord and submit to circumcision. Paul, however, in-

sists that Scripture foresaw their share in the blessings promised

to Abraham's offspring through faith in Christ Jesus (verses 28,

29).

"As a son of Abraham, Christ became, in a special sense, heir

to the covenant promises. . . . By baptism we acquire kinship to

Christ, and through Him acquire the right to participate in the

promises made to Abraham."—S.D.A.

Bible Commentary,

vol.

6, p. 962.

In what way will the promise to Abraham concerning the posses-

sion of a land or the earth be fulfilled to the believing heirs of the

promise? Rom. 4:13; 1 Peter 1:3-5.

"The gift to Abraham and his seed included not merely the

land of Canaan, but the whole earth. So says the apostle, 'The

promise, that he should be the

heir of the world,

was not to Abra-

ham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteous-

ness of faith.' Romans 4:13. And the Bible plainly teaches that the

promises made to Abraham are to be fulfilled through Christ. . . .

[Believers become] heirs to 'an inheritance incorruptible, and

undefiled, and that fadeth not away' [1 Peter 1:4]—the earth freed

from the curse of

sin."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 170. This

promise will be literally fulfilled when the saints will live on the

new earth forever and ever with Christ (Dan. 7:27).

Contrast being a temporary resident of Palestine with being a

permanent resident of the new earth.

Further Study:

S.D.A. Bible Commentary,

vol. 6, pp. 957-963.

The True Israel of God



Friday

November

Part 6

TITLES OF

THE CHURCH

What titles does Peter apply to the church, and what do they tell

of the church's standing in God's sight?

"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a

people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him

who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you

were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had

not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9,

10, NIV).

The apostle Peter here declares that the privileges and re-

sponsibilities which God wanted literal, physical Israel to accept

have been given to the community of Christian believers. They

are not a national group with distinct lineal descent from Abra-

ham or anyone else. They are a people called out of every na-

tion, kindred, tongue, and people to constitute one true, spiritual

Israel throughout the world. Thus Peter assigns to the true peo-

ple of God four titles that were once assigned to literal Israel.

The expression "chosen people" (or "chosen generation,"

"chosen race") echoes

Peter 1:1, 2 and reflects Isaiah 43:20. It

emphasizes divine election and expresses the destiny of the

church. The title "royal priesthood" is drawn from Exodus

19:6, where Israel is said to function in God's plan as a "kingdom

of priests" or a "priestly kingdom." Israel had forfeited its status

as a priestly kingdom, and now the Israel of faith—the church—is

assigned this place. The community of believers is now to offer

to God "spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2:5, RSV) and "living sacri-

fices" (Rom. 12:1) in total dedication to the service of God. The

designation "a holy nation" is also drawn from Exodus 19:6. It

indicates that the true Israel of God in the form of the church is set

apart from the world to represent Him on earth. The fourth

title, "a people belonging to God" ("a peculiar people," KJV),

makes clear that God through Christ has called a people; He con-

siders them in a special sense His own possession. Literal Israel

had been the object of God's special affection, and this affection

is now transferred to the faithful church. All the titles of privilege

from Israel of old are assigned to the new Israel of faith, spiritual

Israel, true Israel—the church, made up of different races, na-

tions, and peoples, including faithful descendants of Abraham.

The unity grounded in Jesus Christ and manifested in the

church as God's race, nation, and people transcends all other bar-

riers and distinctions—whether ethnic, social, economic, politi-

cal, or otherwise.

What is the meaning of the calling that God has bestowed on the

church? 1 Peter 2:5, 6.

Further

Study: Prophets

and Kings,

pp. 715-721.

November 7-13

Adult Lesson

he Sinai ovenan

e ption and

venant

"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on

eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey

my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all

peoples; for all the earth is mine" (Ex. 19:4, 5, RSV).

The covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai (usually named

the Sinai or Mosaic covenant) plays a vital role in the plan of salva-

tion. Although it is the fourth covenant (Adam, Noah, Abraham,

Moses), each of the earlier ones continued to offer God's blessings.

Each covenant is essentially a continuation, enlargement, and ap-

plication of God's basic covenant containing the design and goal of the

redemption of mankind. In the Sinai covenant, God reveals Him-

self more fully than ever before, giving the meaning of His saving

name, declaring His laws, and establishing a form of worship with

sacrifices that could keep His people in covenant relationship with

Him if they fell into disobedience. The animal sacrifices—actu-

ally offered in simple form from Eden—pointed to the perfect Sacrifice

to come. The Sinai covenant is thus a turning point for Israel

and for humanity as a whole.

The biblical evidence regarding the Sinai covenant is clear:

Redemption comes before covenant. God's address to Israel at Sinai

consists of (1) the statement of what He has done to deliver them

(Ex. 19:4) and (2) the resulting invitation for them to enter into a cov-

enant with Him (verses 5, 6). The purpose of the covenant is to

have Israel experience the covenant blessings in their fullness as His

special people and to be a demonstration to the world of what it

means to have God as supreme Ruler and King.

The Sinai covenant was

not

a covenant of works that could

achieve righteousness or justification by human endeavor in keeping

the law. Although designed to convince Israel of sins and help-

lessness before the law, it, like the Abrahamic covenant, is a covenant

of grace. Yet it demands obedience as did the covenants made

with Adam and Abram before. "This covenant is of just as much

force today as it was when the Lord made it with ancient Is-

rael."—Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 1,

p. 1103.

The Sinai Covenant-1:



Sunday

Redemption and Covenant



November 7

Part 1

YAHWEH—GOD

OF THE SINAI

COVENANT

What kind of God takes the steps to make the covenant with the

people of Israel at Mount Sinai?

"I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you

shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out

from under the burdens of the Egyptians" (Ex. 6:7, NASB).

The God of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Ja-

cob is the LORD, or more specifically—as we learned earlier—

Yahweh. He also makes His covenant with the people of Israel at

Mount Sinai, a people redeemed by Him from Egyptian bondage

and slavery. Thus the divine Initiator of the Sinai covenant with

Israel was the same God who made the covenants with Noah,

Abraham, and Adam.

What does the book of Exodus reveal about the God who offers

Himself in covenant with Israel? Ex. 3:13-15; 6:2, 3.

In the stunning burning-bush experience (Ex. 3:1-17), Moses

received his call to be the divine instrument in negotiating Israel's

release from Egyptian slavery. Within this setting Moses asked

God what he should answer when Israel would ask, "What is his

[God's] name?" (verse 13). The purpose of the question, ac-

cording to the Hebrew text, was not to find out God's title in

terms of a name. No, it was asking about the powers, qualities,

abilities, and character of God. The answer that follows shows

us exactly what the question was seeking, namely, the

meaning

His name: "I AM WHO I AM" (verse 14, RSV).

Another vital aspect of the nature and character of God was

later revealed to Moses in Exodus 6:2-8. Although in the past the

name of Yahweh had been well known and God had revealed

Himself under that name, an aspect of the character of God

addition

to the one expressed in "Almighty God"

('El Shaddai)

was to be revealed:

appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as

God Almighty, but by My name, LORD [Yahweh], I did not make

Myself known to them" (Ex. 6:3, NASB). Thus

the new

aspect

of the character of God and its significance is that He will reveal

Himself in redemption, in setting Israel free from bondage, in

making Israel His special covenant people, and in providing the

means for them to remain as His covenant people.

What does it mean to me to know the character of God as the

Initiator and Accomplisher of redemption from sin's slavery?

Further Study:

Ex. 7:8 to 11:10—the ten plagues of Egypt.

The Sinai Covenant-1:



Monday

Redemption and Covenant



November 8

Part 2



"Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants

ISRAEL—

after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his

LOVED,

great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger

CHOSEN, AND

than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your

REDEEMED

inheritance, as it is today" (Deut. 4:37, 38, NIV).

The magnificent theme of God's redemption—a theme of lib-

erating His people from real slavery and bondage—is associated

with divine love and divine election. Love, election, and redemp-

tion are gifts of God totally undeserved by His people.

What is stated about God's love for Israel? Deut. 7:6-11.

God's love for Israel as His people was not an emotional or

intellectual showing of special favor. It was His universal saving

and redeeming love and work for all humankind. So the Exodus

from Egypt is frequently referred to as an act of love: "Thou

hast led in thy steadfast love [Hebrew,

chesed]

the people whom

thou hast redeemed" (Ex. 15:13, RSV). "Yea, he loved [Hebrew,

chabab]

his people" (Deut. 33:3, RSV). It was said of Israel that

"the Lord loves you" (Deut. 7:8, RSV) as well as the stranger in

your midst (Deut. 10:18). Considering the magnitude of the whole

earth that is God's, Israel could only marvel at God's love for her

but never take pride in it (Deut. 10:14, 15).

How is God's choice of ancient Israel explained? Deut. 4:37;

7:6-8.

What emphasis was placed on Israel's redemption before God en-

tered into a covenant with her? Ex. 6:6-8.

The relationship between covenant and redemption cannot

be denied. Redemption comes before covenant. God told Moses

to say to the people: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself'

(Ex. 19:4, RSV). The point is that God had already saved or

redeemed Israel. He had liberated her from Egyptian bondage as

an act of free grace.

The fact that Israel as a people had been supremely loved,

sovereignly chosen, and miraculously redeemed and that God did

this in carrying out the Abrahamic covenant (Ex. 2:24; 3:16; 6:4-

8) shows that the covenant made with Israel at Sinai and the one

made with Abraham are almost the same. Both have the same

spiritual relationship at their center. (See Ex. 6:7, RSV.)

Further Study:

Psalm 105:8-15, 42.

The Sinai Covenant-1:

Redemption and Covenant

Tuesday

November 9



Part 3



What proposal did God make regarding the covenant between

ISRAEL—

Himself and Israel?

PARTNER



IN GOD'S



"If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my

COVENANT

own possession among all peoples"

(Ex. 19:5,

RSV).

As noted several times already, the covenant with Israel fol-

lowed God's gracious redemptive acts and holds the golden key

to the only way of salvation.

A brief outline of Exodus 19 through 24, which contains the

Sinai covenant, shows the sequence and relationship of events:

Israel's arrival and encampment at Sinai (19:1, 2).

God's proposal of a covenant with Israel (19:3-6).

Israel's response in acceptance of the covenant (19:7, 8).

Preparations for formally receiving the covenant (19:9-25).

Proclamation of the Ten Commandments (20:1-17).

Moses as covenant mediator (20:18-21).

Covenant principles spelled out (20:22 to 23:33).

Ratification of the covenant (24:1-18).

It is evident that God desired to make Israel the recipient of a

beneficent covenant.

Why was a covenant between God and the people of Israel a ne-

cessity? Deut. 29:10-13.

Now that the Israelites had been redeemed by God's mighty

acts in history—by divine grace—they had to decide the nature

and direction of their future. Should they strike out alone? Would

they conquer in their own strength? Should they decide to return

to the "security" of Egypt as some suggested? Or should they

pledge allegiance to the saving God, Yahweh? It was one thing to

be set free from slavery; it was quite another thing to remain free

spiritually, physically, and otherwise.

For Israel to remain free from a life of sin—represented by

their Egyptian bondage—called for a covenant with the God of

their salvation. The covenant between God and Israel was de-

signed to make possible the deepest relationship between Himself

and His people. This God-man relationship was to give them

security, protection, and blessing in every sphere of life. They

were to respond in faith to this gracious offer and be obedient.

Obedience was to result from what God had done, and it was to be

the response of faith.

Have you been striving alone in your spiritual life? Or have you

found power and security in the Lord?

Further Study:

Ex. 19:1-24:18.

The Sinai Covenant-1:



Wednesday

Redemption and Covenant



November

Part 4

GOD'S PLAN

FOR ISRAEL

What benefits and duties were in God's plan for Israel as His cov-

enant people?

"If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all na-

tions you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth

is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"

(Ex. 19:5, 6, NIV). (See also Lev. 19:2.)

Three major ideas are presented in these vital verses:

Israel is a "treasured possession" (NIV),

"own posses-

sion" (RSV), "peculiar treasure" (KJV). These translations at-

tempt to render into English a technical Hebrew term repeatedly

used of Israel as a choice or treasured possession. In contrast to a

possession that could not be moved—such as areas of land—Is-

rael became God's movable treasure or possession. Israel is

God's personally-gained and privately-treasured possession, set

aside for a marked purpose. (See Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18, 19.)

"Treasured possession" thus implies special value and special

relationship.

Israel is a "kingdom of priests."

(This is the literal mean-

ing of the Hebrew expression

mamleket kohanim.)

God's plan in-

cluded making Israel mediators of His grace to the nations of the

earth. Israel was to function as a kingdom of priests to bring bless-

ings to the nations of the world and to minister to their needs.

Since this original purpose was not realized by ancient Israel, it is

to be realized in the priesthood of all believers in the church. (See

1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10.) Each of us is so called today.

Israel is a "holy nation."

In Exodus 19:6, Israel is called a

"holy nation," although more often a "holy people" (Deut. 7:6;

14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9). The call of Israel to be a "holy nation"

rested upon God's separating them from the nations. They were

to be primarily a religious unity. God is holy, so His people are to

be holy. In Deuteronomy 26:19 the Lord declared "that you [Is-

rael] will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised"

(NIV). Obedience to God's commandments is the result and not

the condition of being a "holy people." Holiness here is not

something to be achieved but something received and reflected in

a daily life of faith obedience.

Do you live right in order to become holy, or were you counted

right so that God could make you holy?

Further Study:

Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Com-

mentary, vol.

7, p. 908.

The Sinai Covenant-1:



Thursday

Redemption and Covenant



November 11



Part 5



"All the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord

ISRAEL'S

has spoken we will do' " (Ex. 19:8, RSV). (See also 24:3.)

RESPONSE



TO GOD'S



In these two texts Israel's answer was favorable, promising to

COVENANT

do all the words that God had spoken. God would want no other

response. Yet the reason for and the aim of the response make a

world of difference. The difference in this response relates to

the following:

Whether Israel would attempt to do what God had spoken in

her own strength and with the expectation that she would merit

thereby the covenant blessings.

Whether Israel would obey the covenant obligations by faith

through the enabling grace mercifully provided by the Lord and

thus experience the covenant blessings as gifts freely bestowed

by God.

The former response was one of legalism in which God's cov-

enant was turned into a covenant of works with human effort

seeking to earn salvation. The latter response was nonlegalistic

because it understood correctly that God's covenant with Israel

intended to call forth heartfelt gratitude for God's redeeming act.

Thus it was to be a covenant of grace, an extension of the cov-

enants made in Eden with Adam and later also given to Abraham.

Which means did Israel choose by which to gain righteousness?

Rom. 9:31, 32.

The apostle Paul made it abundantly clear that Israel pursued

righteousness legalistically, attempting to achieve perfect fulfill-

ment of the law in her own merit and strength.

"God brought them to Sinai; He manifested His glory; He gave

them His law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of

obedience: [Ex. 19:5, 6 quoted]. The people did not realize the

sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was im-

possible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into

covenant with

God."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp. 371, 372.

How will I seek to be saved today?

"Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we

accept the righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins.

His obedience is accepted for us. Then the heart renewed by

the Holy Spirit will bring forth 'the fruits of the Spirit.' . . . Having

the Spirit of Christ, we shall walk even as He

walked."—Patri-

archs and Prophets,

p. 372.

Further Study:

Rom. 3:31; 5:1; 8:3, 4.

The Sinai Covenant-1:



Friday

Redemption and Covenant



November 12



Part 6



By what ceremony or ritual was the Sinai covenant ratified? Ex.

THE SINAI

24:5-8. (See RSV.)

COVENANT



RATIFIED



Bible scholars are not united on the meaning of the ritual de-

scribed in the reference above. Ellen G. White explains:

"Bravely did the Israelites speak the words promising obedience

to the Lord, after hearing His covenant read in the audience of the

people. They said, 'All that the Lord hath said will we do, and

be obedient.' Then the people were set apart and sealed to God.

A sacrifice was offered to the Lord. A portion of the blood of the

sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar. This signified that the

people had consecrated themselves—body, mind, and soul—to

God. A portion was sprinkled upon the people. This signified

that through the sprinkled blood of Christ, God graciously ac-

cepted them as His special treasure. Thus the Israelites entered

into a solemn covenant with God."—Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol.

1, p. 1107.

The sprinkling of blood in the covenant ratification ceremony

symbolizes the sealing of the covenant relationship between God

and His people. The blood of the slain sacrifices was to make

atonement for sin and to bring reconciliation and unity between

God and Israel. The sacrificial blood dashed against the altar

(the latter representing God) and upon the people of Israel

made atonement for their sins (compare Lev. 17:11), thereby re-

moving in a figurative sense the barrier of separation that sin had

placed between God and people. It made possible intimate cov-

enant fellowship. The blood sprinkling set a seal upon the cov-

enant between God and people in the sense that the covenant was

set into operation. In short, the covenant ratification ceremony

involved both sacrifice and blood sprinkling. It set into operation

the following:

Forgiveness and sealing.

Consecration and reconciliation.

Fellowship and communion.

How does Jesus Christ speak of the blood sprinkling of the Sinai

covenant, and what ultimate meaning does He place upon it? Matt.

26:27, 28.

Christ Himself, on the cross, was not only the Mediator of the

covenant (like Moses), but also the true Sacrifice that made the

"new" covenant sure. His blood was poured out for many for the

forgiveness of sins. In Christ the barriers between God and man

were removed, and each true believer can experience complete

fellowship and intimate communion with his Lord.

Further Study:

Heb. 9:18-28.

•

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DAYS OF

REAPING

November 14-20 0

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

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

ode

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

IR EndLem'

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God,

keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love

him and keep his commandments."

"If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then

the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to

your forefathers" (Deut. 7:9, 12, NIV).

The covenant was God's chosen means of keeping a love re-

lationship between Himself and human beings. This relationship, in

turn, was governed by God's law, which is an expression of His

nature and character. The law was the guide to life within the cov-

enant, but not the means provided to gain life or redemption. As

always in Scripture, God's saving actions come before covenant and

law.

The covenant, with its divine law, provided the means for an ever-

deepening and ever-widening experience of spiritual, mental, and

physical growth within the redeemed state.

Many Bible students have claimed that God offered to Israel a

covenant of works—a covenant through or in which man's salvation or

righteousness was gained by human works and achievement.

However, such was not the case. God offered Israel a covenant of

grace where righteousness was by faith in God's saving acts—a

faith that was itself active in good works.

God's introduction of Himself in the opening words of the

Decalogue was to remind Israel of the God of deliverance. It was to

place the relationship between God and His people in the setting

of divine and unmerited redemption. This was now the setting and

basis for the act of lawgiving. Thus the Decalogue and the appli-

cation of its principles in all other laws (Exodus 21 through 23) gov-

erned the relationships in the covenant of love.

The covenant of God with His people Israel contained various re-

quirements on the basis of which the intimate covenant relation-

ship was governed and could be continued. God intended that a love

response built upon faith should provide the underlying reason for

choosing to be obedient. (Compare Deut. 6:5; Ps. 18:1; Jer. 2:2.)

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Sunday

Covenant and Law



November 14



Part 1



What reasons were given for God's calling of Israel? Deut. 7:7, 8.

GOD'S LOVE



IN ISRAEL'S



Israel had no merit of her own that could be put forward as wor-

ELECTION

thy of God's love and His choice of her as His people. As in the

case of any believer—regardless of race, wealth, or learning—the

divine mystery of grace provided Israel's calling.

The basic cause for Israel's election lay in the mystery of di-

vine love and grace. Israel was few in numbers. As a group of

enslaved tribes, she was weak; and in terms of culture and reli-

gion she was mixed, weak, and without much influence.

Yahweh (the Lord), however, engaged in great saving acts in

behalf of a poor, oppressed group in bondage to the pharaoh in

Egypt. The reasons underlying Israel's selection were twofold:

God's abundant love.

God's loyalty to His covenant oath.

On the basis of that love, God had called Abraham and his de-

scendants and made a covenant with them. (See Gen. 12:1-3;

15:7-21; 17:1-21.) God renewed His covenant to Abraham's de-

scendants by swearing an oath to fulfill His covenant promise

(Gen. 26:3).

The result of such divine actions and God's faithfulness to

His covenant and its oath is redemption. Note the contrast be-

tween God's "mighty hand" (Ex. 3:19) and the "hand of Pha-

raoh" (2 Kings 17:7). The latter's "hand," the strongest and

most powerful among the nations at that time, was no match for

Yahweh's "mighty hand." The powers of world empires or

kingdoms today cannot thwart the divine work of redemption.

Yahweh is faithful to His covenant and loyal to His promises no

matter how dark the outlook. The powers of the world are un-

able to hold Him back from fulfilling His saving work.

What does the New Testament say about the election of the be-

liever and the believer's new status? 2 Peter 1:10, 11; Rom. 11:5, 6.

Each believer is chosen by God as a sheer act of grace and love

on His part. God, in Christ, came to men and women enslaved in

sin and darkness and liberated them. They are transferred into

the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom there is redemption

and forgiveness of sin.

What does God's unfathomable election love mean to you? How

does it aid you in your relationships with those not of your religious

experience?

(See

Steps to Christ,

p. 22.)

Further Study:

1 Cor. 1:27, 28; James 2:5; Rev. 17:14.

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Monday

Covenant and Law



November 15

Part



"I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the

CALLING, land of Egypt, where you dwelt, and you shall not do as they do in

COVENANT, the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk

AND LAW in their statutes. You shall do my ordinances and keep my statutes

and walk in them. I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 18:2-4, RSV).

Calling (or election), covenant, and law belong together. The

divine election of Abraham and his descendants came before the

covenant as the covenant came before the law. There can be no

true covenant relationship between the Redeemer God and His

redeemed people without norms, obligations, or requirements—

in short, the law. By it the relationship can be upheld and contin-

ued.

Even though in a formal way the covenant was prior to the giv-

ing of the law, the law is vitally related to the covenant. It was

indeed an actual and necessary part of the covenant. In this sense

covenant and law or covenant and commandment belong to-

gether. The law given on Mount Sinai with its additional

instructions and explanatory applications was God's gift to Israel,

revealing God's will and character as the setting for the people's

relationship with their God and with one another. As such, the

giving of the law was just as much an act of grace as calling, deliv-

erance from slavery, and the making of the covenant to which it

belongs. The law thus becomes the guide and control of all rela-

tionships within the covenant, namely, the God-man relation-

ships and the interhuman relationships on the broadest scale.

The law sets the bounds of the covenant relationship. It gives

meaning, direction, and limits to guide faith in its loving covenant

response.

In what way are "covenant" and "law" related to each other in

Scripture? Deut. 4:13; 6:17; Hosea 8:1.

In Moses' address to Israel he noted that at Mount Sinai the

Lord "declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to

perform, that is, the ten commandments" (Deut. 4:13, RSV).

Here the covenant is shown to be equal to the Decalogue. In other

instances various expressions such as "law"

(torah,

Ps. 78:10;

Isa. 24:5; Hosea 8:1), "statutes" (or "ordinance")

(chuqqim,

chuqqoth,

Ps. 50:16; 2 Kings 17:15; Isa. 24:5), "testimonies"

(Ps. 25:10; 132:12, 2 Kings 17:15), "commandments"

(piqquclim,

Ps. 103:18), and "word" of the Lord

(' imrah,

Deut. 33:9)—in the

sense of "commandment"—are found parallel to or in closest as-

sociation with (if not having the same meaning as) the word "cov-

enant"

(berith).

Evidently "the words of this covenant" (Jer.

11:3, 6, 8) are the words of God's law, statutes, testimonies, and

commandments.

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Tuesday

Covenant and Law



November 16

Part 3



What is the meaning of "law" within the covenant? Deut. 4:13,

LAW WITHIN

14. (See RSV.)

ilE COVENANT

The word "law"

(torah)

appears frequently in the Old Tes-

tament (220 times). But it must not be taken to mean "law" (Latin

lex)

in the old Roman sense of the law of the empire or in the

Greek sense of

nomos—that

which had become a standard or cus-

tom. The Hebrew term

torah

comes from the verb

horah

(from

the root

jarah)

meaning "to point out," "to teach," "to in-

struct." Accordingly, the noun

torah

means in its broadest sense

"teaching" or "instruction." In this sense it is the"law" or "in-

struction" which God put before Israel in terms of the "statutes

and ordinances" (Deut. 4:14, RSV) or "the testimonies, the stat-

utes, and the ordinances" (verse 45)—the laws, decrees, and or-

dinances that were to regulate the life of Israel. The term

"to-

rah"

could be that comprehensive kind of "instruction" that

included the moral and ethical, civil and social, sacrificial and

worship, hygienic and health laws. In a narrow sense

torah

can

mean the Ten Commandments, also called "the words of the

covenant" (Ex. 34:28, RSV). Its words contain the details and

principles that were to govern the God-man and man-man rela-

tionships of the covenant people.

The work of the "law" within the covenant—namely, law in-

clusive of the Decalogue and the statutes, ordinances, and testi-

monies given by God—is to provide the guides to the new life for

the human covenant partner. It introduces the member of the cov-

enant to the will of God, whom one comes to know in the fullest

sense through the obedience of faith to His commandments and

other expressions of His will.

The

part played by the law

within the living reality of the cov-

enant relationship showed that Israel could not follow the ways of

the nations. She could not live by natural law, plain human needs

and desires, or even social, political, and economic necessities.

Rather, Israel could continue as God's holy nation, priestly king-

dom, and special treasure only through uncompromising obedi-

ence to the revealed will of the covenant-making God in all areas

of the life of the people.

The

purpose of the law

is to guide to covenant loyalty and

covenant blessing. Israel was not to sacrifice this sacred guide for

the desires of human nature, nor a political system of their own,

nor political-military adventurism, nor a harsh understanding of

social and religious life.

What is the difference between "law" as a means of gaining sal-

vation and "law" as the gracious expression of God's will that leads

to a wholesome and blessed relationship with Him?

Further Study:

Deut. 4:6-8; Ps. 19:7-14.

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Wednesday

Covenant and Law



November 17



Part 4



What language suggests God's covenant with His people depends

CONDITIONS

on some conditions? Ex. 19:5. (See RSV.)

OF THE



COVENANT-1



That little "if' has extraordinary significance. It indicates

that the Sinai covenant contained conditions. Some students of

the Bible have suggested that the Sinai covenant is the first and

only such covenant in Scripture. They say that the earlier cov-

enant with Abram contained no conditions and involved no

obligations. In other words, according to these voices, the

Abrahamic covenant was unconditional and therefore binding

upon God Himself. They would claim that God provided prom-

ises without obligations. As such, it would have been a covenant

of grace, while they see the Sinai covenant as a covenant of

works. They claim that Sinai offers salvation by works and is

based upon human performance and merits. We have seen in our

earlier study this quarter that Scripture does not support such an

interpretation of the Abrahamic and Sinai covenants.

What obligations did the Abrahamic covenant place upon Abram

and his descendants? Gen. 17:9, 14: 18:19; 22:16-18; 26:4, 5.

These passages show clearly that Abram and his descendants

were to live in a covenant relationship in which man was justified

by faith (Gen. 15:6). This faith relationship manifested itself or

resulted in obedience: "Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my

charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Gen.

26:5, RSV). In other words, "the covenant with Abraham also

maintained the authority of God's

law."—Patriarchs and Proph-

ets,

p. 370. Thus the Abrahamic covenant was not uncondi-

tional and onesided in nature, in the sense that the fulfillment of

the promises depended solely upon God without regard to the ac-

tions of the human covenant partner.

In what ways did God call for the obedience of Israel? Deut. 4:40;

5:16; 12:28.

The response to God's covenant with Israel was to be com-

plete obedience to the covenant obligations. Israel was to "keep

the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways

and by fearing him" (Deut. 8:6, RSV). Out of gratitude to the

Lord, Israel was to "love" Him and to "hold fast" to Him. Bless-

ings were to follow in the wake of obedience. Although blessings

were conditional upon obedience, they could not be earned by a

legalistic keeping of the law.

Are the principles of complete obedience to God's covenant still

applicable? (See

Prophets and Kings,

p. 570.)

Further Study:

Deut. 26:16-19.

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Thursday

Covenant and Law



November 18



Part 5



What was the relationship of the "if" (conditional) statements

CONDITIONS

and the command to walk in God's ways that Israel might live?

OF THE



:OVENANT-2



"If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and

do them, then I will give you your rains in their season."

"But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these com-

mandments, . . . but break my covenant, I will do this to you: I will

appoint over you sudden terror" (Lev. 26:3, 4, 14-16, RSV). (See

also Deut. 5:33.)

The "if

—

statements are clearly conditional, involving obliga-

tions. The obligatory nature of the Sinai covenant was not a

new ground for establishing a relationship between God and Is-

rael. It was not a covenant of works in which man could earn his

salvation by obedience to God's will. The conditional aspect of

the Sinai covenant was identical with the intent of the conditional

statements of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen. 17:9, 14; 18:19;

22:16-18; 26:4, 5), which was a covenant of grace.

The "if" statements (see Ex. 19:5; Lev. 26:3-45; Deut. 11:13-

17; 28:1-68) can be misinterpreted and misunderstood, in a legalis-

tic sense. By some they are made to mean that physical and eter-

nal life are guaranteed upon obedience—no matter what the inner

attitude of the heart. That was not the intent of the "if

—

state-

ments. A mechanical legalism was not intended. What was in-

tended was a true covenant relationship with God involving heart

and mind. Normally we now call this a relationship of faith in

God's grace. It results in obedience.

The passage in Deuteronomy 5:33 which enjoined a walking

in all of God's way "that you may live" (RSV) can also be

misapplied and misconstrued. The phrase "that you may live"

has been understood to mean "in order that you may live," as

though walking in all of God's ways would earn eternal life. The

Hebrew for the word "that" may be better taken in the sense of a

result. Israel was to walk in all of God's ways

with the result

that

she might truly live here and now and beyond. In the latter sense

the Israelite was enjoined to keep God's law, thus continuing in

the intimacy of the covenant relationship by the power of God's

enabling grace. The result was the experience of authentic liv-

ing here and of life eternal. Obedience, in the only truly biblical

sense, was and is one that stems from faith. (See Rom. 1:5; 16:26.)

Do you keep God's law "in order to" gain life, or do you keep

God's law supported by His enabling power, showing an obedience

stemming from faith?

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

p. 535.

The Sinai Covenant-2:



Friday

Covenant and Law



November 19

Part 6



"So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a

OBEDIENCE,

man may live if

does them; 1 am the Lord" (Lev. 18:5, NASB).

LIFE, AND

(See Deut. 28:1, 2, RSV).

BLESSING

The principle is clear that obedience to God's voice and com-

mandment is followed by blessing and life. It is equally clear that

the setting of the blessings and the curses upon Israel affected all

nations. The Lord would set her "high above all the nations of

the earth" (Deut. 28:1, RSV).

In essence there are but two ways by which humans attempt to

gain salvation. One way is salvation by works, or righteousness

supposedly gained by keeping the law. The other is salvation by

faith, or righteousness received by faith. Is the principle of receiv-

ing blessing, in the text cited above, one of human merit in which

man's obedience to the law earns the blessing? Or is the blessing

that will come upon the doer of the law a gift of God's grace?

What

understanding does Paul offer concerning "righteousness

by law" and "righteousness by faith"? Rom. 9:30 to 10:8.

Paul shows that Israel tried to obtain "righteousness by law,"

in a mistaken human effort to establish righteousness by man's

legalistic obedience. This was not what the Old Testament

taught. Paul is contrasting Israel's failure to receive the divine

way of "righteousness by faith" with their human attempt at

"righteousness by law," which is actually a legalistic misuse and

misunderstanding of law. Paul was showing that the righteous-

ness set forth by the law of Moses, which is "holy, and just, and

good" (Rom. 7:12), was righteousness by faith "to every one that

believeth" (Rom. 10:4).

"The problem is resolved by recognizing that righteousness

by faith has always been God's method for saving man and that

the giving of the law through Moses was an integral part of this

plan. . . . Consequently it is quite unreasonable to assume that

Moses was ignorant of the proper relationship between the law

and the gospel and that whenever he spoke so strongly of obedi-

ence to God's commandments he was commending righteousness

by law rather than by faith."—S.D.A.

Bible Commentary,

vol. 6,

p. 597. Paul exposes the legalistic perversion of the law. He uses

the words of Moses himself in Leviticus 18:5 to remind the legal-

ists that while righteousness comes by faith, it is a faith that

shows itself in obedience. Such obedience man is not able to ren-

der unaided, without becoming acceptable .through the merits of

Jesus or without receiving God's enabling grace.

Further Study:

S.D.A. Bible Commentary,

vol. 6,

pp. 595-597.

0001

DAYS

DAYS OF

REANNG

OssflpssRh—

erjcp

mnd

November 21.27

Adult Lesson

"You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you

throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanc-

tify you" (Ex.

31:13,

RSV).

It is well for Seventh-day Adventists to review their relation-

ship to the observance of the Sabbath. It is to be observed as an exter-

nal and visible sign of a relationship with God. It is to function as

a sign of remembering and of knowledge. It is also a sign of recogni-

tion and sanctification. The Sabbath sign stresses the continuing

soundness of God's "everlasting covenant." It can demonstrate week

after week that the vital and intimate relationship between God

and His people is being maintained.

The Sabbath is a sign of the believer's basic position in the

presence of God. The believer is accepting God's personal invitation

for him to share an appointment in fellowship. Sabbath celebra-

tion provides freedom and liberation from work, competition, and the

tensions of everyday life. It brings rest and renewal. It provides

special time for communion with God. In its wake it brings physical,

mental, and spiritual regeneration.

The Sabbath is also the seal of God. As such, it identifies Yah-

weh, the Lord of the Sabbath, as the Creator of "heaven and

earth, the sea, and all that is in them" (Ex. 20:11, RSV), and thereby

defines His authority and ownership. The Creator has made the

Sabbath His seal, which identifies Him as Creator and also as Re-cre-

ator (Ex. 20:2; 31:13).

The Sabbath is indeed a covenant sign in the here and now that

reaches forward to an ultimate future when the plan of salvation is

completed. Then total, unlimited freedom and final redemption will

be experienced. The marvelous redeeming and sanctifying

qualities within the Sabbath itself direct us from God's "very good"

creation in the beginning to a most glorious future of unhindered

communion and unlimited oneness with the Father and the Lord Je-

sus Christ. The Sabbath, linking the first Creation (Gen. 2:2, 3)

with the new creation (Isa. 66:22, 23), is the sign or guarantee of a new

heaven and a new earth for all the redeemed to enjoy forever and

ever.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Sunday

November 21

Part 1

POINT OF

ORIGIN

In what setting did the Sabbath have its beginning? Gen. 2:2, 3.

(See NASB.)

Both Old Testament (Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:11; 31:17) and New

(Mark 2:27; Heb. 4:1-11; compare John 5:17) affirm that the sev-

enth-day Sabbath had its origin in Eden. Although Genesis 2:2, 3

does not identify the "seventh day" as the Sabbath (this identifi-

cation comes first in Exodus 16:26, 29), it is clearly suggested in

the phrase "he rested on the seventh day." The word "rested"

(Heb.

shabat)

is related to the noun "Sabbath" (Heb.

shabbat).

"The word `sabbath' is not employed [in Gen. 2:2, 3], but it is

certain that the author meant to assert that God blessed and hal-

lowed the seventh day as the Sabbath."—G. S. Waterman,

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 5,

p. 182.

Evidently Genesis 2:2, 3 teaches the divine origin and institution

of the Sabbath as a day of blessing for all mankind.

In the text for today, what does God's act of resting on the first

Sabbath of this world tell us about His action?

Although some commentators have suggested that God Him-

self needed physical rest after Creation, the true purpose for

God's resting was to provide a divine example for man. Man is

also to work for six days and then to rest on the seventh-day Sab-

bath. The well-known theologian Karl Barth suggested

appealingly that God's resting at the end of Creation was a part of

the "covenant of grace," in which man was invited "to rest with

Him . . . to participate in God's rest."—Karl Barth,

Church Dog-

matics,

vol. 3, part I, p. 98. God in His love called the man and the

woman on the day after their creation to fellowship in rest, to es-

tablish intimate communion with Him in whose image they had

been made. That fellowship and communion was to last for-

ever. Since the fall of humankind, it has offered a weekly high

point of one's life with the Saviour.

What were some aspects of God's acts in sanctifying and blessing

the Sabbath at Creation? See text for today.

God's sanctifying or making the Sabbath holy was not a magic

quality placed in every seventh day. Rather, it was God's act of

setting this day apart from all other days for the fullest enjoyment

of the sanctifying presence and work of the Creator. God's holi-

ness, the Sabbath's holiness, and the holiness of God's people are

all intertwined. God's people are to "observe my Sabbaths," be-

cause

am the Lord, who makes you holy" (Ex. 31:13, NIV).

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 47, 48.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Monday

November 22



Part 2



In what manner did God teach to an Israel liberated from Egyp-

TAUGHT

tian bondage the blessing of keeping the Sabbath? Ex. 16:26-30.

IN THE



WILDERNESS



The miraculous gift of the manna (Ex. 16:4-30) was the occa-

sion for teaching the perpetual gift of the Sabbath:

Only a regular portion of manna could be used each day, but

on the sixth day a double portion was to be gathered.

No manna was given on the Sabbath.

The extra portion needed for the Sabbath was preserved

from the sixth day unspoiled, while the manna would not keep on

any other day—a repeated cycle of miracles.

The narrative of Exodus 16 demonstrates that the Sabbath

was taught to Israel before the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.

(Compare Ex. 16:1; 19:1.) The incidental manner in which the

Sabbath is introduced and the comment of the Lord on proving

"whether they will walk in my law or not" (Ex. 16:4, RSV) imply

that the Sabbath was previously known. "In fact, the equation of

the Sabbath with the seventh day, the statement that the Lord

gave the Israelites the Sabbath, and the record that the people, at

God's command, rested on the seventh day, all point unmistak-

ably to the primeval [at Creation] institution of the Sabbath."—

G. F. Waterman,

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bi-

ble, vol.

5, p. 184.

What do you learn about the Sabbath in Exodus 16:

The sixth is a day of preparation (verses 22, 29).

The day after the sixth is the Sabbath (verses 22, 23).

The Sabbath is the seventh day (verse 26).

The Sabbath is a gift from the Lord (verse 29).

The Sabbath is "a day of solemn rest" (verse 23, 30,

RSV).

The Sabbath is "holy" (verse 23).

The Sabbath is a day of rest (verse 30).

The Sabbath is not a day of fasting, but one for which

God has provided sustenance (verse 29).

The Sabbath is a day in which loyalty to God is tested

(verses 4, 27).

10.

The Sabbath is a day commanded to be kept by God's

law (verse 28).

11.

Six days are provided for work, but the seventh-day Sab-

bath is "to the Lord" (verse 25).

12.

The noun "sabbath" occurs for the first time in Scripture

(verse 23).

Would I have stood the test of the Sabbath in the wilderness?

Further

Study: Patriarchs

and Prophets,

pp. 295-297.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Tuesday

November 23

Part 3



"The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the

MADE A

generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between

COVENANT

me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the

SIGN

heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from

work and rested"

(Ex.

31:16, 17, NIV).

Four times the Sabbath was designated as "sign" (Ex. 31:13,

17; Eze. 20:12, 20). A "sign" is not a symbol in the sense of a

thing that naturally typifies, represents, or recalls something by

its similar qualities or by association in fact or in thought. The

meaning of a "sign" (Heb.

oth)

is manifold. In particular, a

"sign" functions as an outward mark or object or condition in-

tended to convey a distinctive message. (See Gen. 4:15; Joshua

4:6.) The Sabbath was a covenant sign "between me and you

throughout your generations" (Ex. 31:13).

By comparison with the Sabbath sign, what was the"sign" of the

covenant with Noah? Gen. 9:12-17.

The rainbow is an external, physical sign in the clouds which

reminds and confirms that God is keeping His covenant to protect

all flesh from a worldwide flood of waters. It also serves as a re-

minder to man that wickedness will be punished. God's faithful-

ness to His promise calls for man's faithfulness to the God who

fixed the sacredness of the laws that govern the natural world for

man's benefit.

What parallel elements to the Sabbath sign, if any, were in the

"sign" of the Abrahamic covenant? Gen. 17:11.

Circumcision was the external sign that made the male descen-

dants of Abraham an entity separated from their Gentile neigh-

bors. It was to perpetuate the covenant of God with the descen-

dants of Abraham. It was to foster their spiritual relationship with

God; it was to depict circumcision of the heart (Deut. 10:16; Rom.

2:29); it was to represent a spiritual relationship based on faith-

righteousness working through love (Rom. 4:11; Gal. 5:6).

What importance has the Sabbath for you as a sign between you

and your God?

Today, in some parts of the world, the Sabbath presents little

hardship by loss of work or persecution. That may swiftly

change. But is the Sabbath a precious season of fellowship with

God? Are our lives marked by such a "sign"?

Further Study:

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 178-182.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Wednesday

November 24



Part 4



"You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and

SIGN OF

you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the



iCTIFICATION



Lord, sanctify you"

(Ex. 31:13, RSV).

An exceptionally rich Sabbath passage is Exodus 31:12-17,

which follows right after the Lord's directions for the building of

the sanctuary and the ordering of its services (Ex. 25:1 to 31:11).

It connects Sabbath and sanctuary (compare Lev. 19:30) and

specifies details not revealed before.

The "sign" aspect of the Sabbath is totally new—a visible,

external, and "eternal" sign between God and His people.

What emphasis underlies the Sabbath as a "sign" to God's peo-

ple that they "may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you"?

Two new ideas are joined together:

The Sabbath as a

sign of knowledge.

The Sabbath as a

sign of sanctification.

Consider the sign aspect related to knowledge. The Hebrew

understanding of knowledge includes intellectual, relational, and

emotional aspects. "To know" did not simply mean to know a

fact, particularly when a person was involved. It also meant to

have a meaningful relationship with the one known. Thus "to

know the Lord" meant to be in the right relationship with Him—

to "serve" Him (1 Chron. 28:9), to "fear" him (Isa. 11:2; Ps.

119:79; Prov. 1:7), to "believe" Him (Isa. 43:10), to "trust" Him

(Ps. 9:10), to "seek" Him (Ps. 9:10), and to "call on" His name

(Jer. 10:25; Ps. 79:6).

Thus the Sabbath is a sign that imparts to the believer the

knowledge that the Lord (Yahweh) as covenant God is also his or

her God.

In addition the Sabbath has significance as a sign of sanctifica-

tion. It signifies that the Lord "sanctifies" His people (compare

Lev. 20:8; 21:8; 22:32, RSV; Eze. 37:28) by making them His

"holy" people (Ex. 19:6; Lev. 19:2, 3; Deut. 7:6).

The sanctification process is as much the work of God's

redemptive love as is the saving and redeeming work of God.

Righteousness (justification) and sanctification are both activities

of God:

"I,

the Lord, sanctify you." Thus the Sabbath is a sign

that imparts the knowledge of God as Sanctifier. "The Sabbath

given to the world as the sign of God as the Creator is also the sign

of Him as the

Sanctifier."—Testimonies ,

vol. 6, p. 350.

Do you treasure the Sabbath as a sign of God's sanctifying power

in your life? What might increase its influence on your life? How

might such an increase affect your witness to others?

Further Study:

Testimonies,

vol. 6, pp. 349-351.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Thursday

November



Part 5



"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"

(Ex.

20:8).

SIGN



FOR MAN



The Sabbath was and is a sign for man to "remember."

The introductory injunction "remember" brings together past,

present, and future. The backward-looking aspect focuses on

the distant past, namely, the fiat Creation which climaxed in the

institution of the Sabbath as a weekly day of rest and special com-

munion with God.

The immediate purpose of the remembering involves action

in the present. Thus, to "remember" means "to keep" or to

"observe" (see Deut. 5:12) the Sabbath in the present.

The forward-looking aspect of remembering the Sabbath is

also emphasized. The person who remembers the keeping of

the Sabbath has a promising, rich, and meaningful future with the

Lord of the Sabbath. He remains in the covenant relationship be-

cause he remains in the Lord.

In remembering Creation and Creator, God's people also re-

member God's gracious acts of salvation. Creation and re-cre-

ation belong together. The former made the latter possible.

The Sabbath is a sign that communicates to man that God is the

Creator of the world and the Creator of man's salvation.

What other aspects of the Sabbath as a sign for man come into

view? Ex. 31:13.

The Sabbath is a sign of God's covenant community, a sign

"between me and you." As such, the Sabbath is a sign or mark of

separation that communicates to people of other religions that a

unique covenant relationship exists between God and His people.

It separates God's people from the rest of mankind. In this sense

it functions also as a sign of recognition. As Cain was recognized

by the sign that God put on him, so God's people are recognized

by the Sabbath that keeps them separated unto Him for service to

the world.

What does it mean to me that the Sabbath is a sign for man?

"By

keeping His Sabbath holy we are to show that we are His

people. His Word declares the Sabbath to be a sign by which to

distinguish the commandment-keeping people. . . . Those who

keep the law of God will be one with Him in the great controversy

commenced in heaven between Satan and

God."—Selected Mes-

sages,

bk. 2, p. 160.

Further Study:

Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Com-

mentary, vol.

7, pp. 949, 981.

Sabbath—Covenant Sign and Seal



Friday

November 26

Part 6



"In

six

days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea

SEAL OF GOD

and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the

Lord blessed the sabbath and made it holy"

(Ex. 20:11, NASB).

The Ten Commandments define comprehensively and fun-

damentally the divine-human and human-human relationships.

The commandment at the center of the Decalogue is the Sab-

bath commandment. It identifies the Lord of the Sabbath in a spe-

cial way and indicates His sphere of authority and ownership.

Note these two aspects: (1) the identity of the Deity—Yahweh

(LORD), who is the Creator (Ex. 20:11; 31:17) who thus holds a

unique place; (2) the sphere of His ownership and authority—

"the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them" (Ex.

20:11, NASB; compare 31:17). In these two aspects, the Sabbath

commandment has the characteristics that are typical of seals of

international ancient Near Eastern treaty documents. These

seals are typically in the center of the treaty documents and also

contain (1) the identity of deity (usually a pagan god) and (2) the

sphere of ownership and authority (usually a limited geographical

area).

The Sabbath functions as a "sign" (Ex. 31:13, 17) and as the

seal of the relationship between God and His own covenant peo-

ple. This has great meaning for us as Christians, because in

keeping the seventh-day Sabbath as did our Lord at the end of

Creation Week, we acknowledge Him as Creator and Re-creator

(Redeemer and Sanctifier). We also acknowledge God's owner-

ship and authority over all creation including ourselves.

What will finally signal the difference between the bearers of the

seal of God and those bearing the mark of the beast? Rev. 13:15-17;

14:9, 10.

"The sanctification of the Spirit signalizes the difference be-

tween those who have the seal of God and those who keep a

spurious rest day.

"When the test comes, it will be clearly shown what the mark

of the beast is. It is the keeping of Sunday. . . .

"God has designated the seventh day as His Sabbath [Ex.

31:13, 17, 16 quoted].

"Thus the distinction is drawn between the loyal and the dis-

loyal. Those who desire to have the seal of God in their fore-

heads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment."—El-

len G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Commentary, vol.

7, pp. 980,

981.

Further Study:

Ellen G. White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Com-

mentary, vol.

7, pp. 968-970.

November 28 to December 4

Adult Lesson

The New Covenant

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new

covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31,

RSV).

The more familiar theme of the "new covenant" holds great

significance for the New Testament believer. The remarkable

promise of the "new covenant" is first given as a term in Jere-

miah 31:31-34. The kernel and essence of the "new covenant" is the

moral law of God. This same law is the moral law of the old

covenant.

"The law of God was the basis of this [new] covenant, which

was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with

the divine will, placing them where they could obey God's

law."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 371.

The "new covenant" is not something completely different

from the "old covenant" made with Israel on Mount Sinai. According

to Jeremiah 31:31-34, the following facts apply to both covenants:

The same covenanting God ("I will make").

The same moral law ("my law").

The same promise of divine fellowship (I "will be [your]

God").

The same promise of making a covenanted people (you "shall

be my people").

The same forgiveness of sins ("I will forgive their iniquity").

These items common to both covenants show that the "new

covenant" is a "renewed covenant." It is a completion of the old cov-

enant. In its substance it brings the "first" covenant to fulfill-

ment.

The differences between the old and new covenants are not

differences of purpose. They are differences of degree. "Under the

new covenant, the conditions by which eternal life may be gained

are the same as under the old—perfect obedience."—Ellen G. White

Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol.

7, p. 931. This is

not calling for obedience achieved by human effort, but obedience

made possible by faith in the all-sufficient merits of Jesus and by

His enabling power provided through divine grace. He brings into the

life the grace of God in Christ.

The New Covenant



10 Sunday

November 28

Part 1

ITS

ANNOUNCEMENT

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a

new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not

like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them

by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant

which they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord" (Jer.

31:31, 32, RSV).

At the time when the southern kingdom of Judah was about to

come to an end and its people were about to go into Babylonian

captivity, God announced through His prophet Jeremiah the

"new covenant." The newness of this covenant is first men-

tioned in the Bible in our text for today. However, when the 10-

tribe northern kingdom of Israel was about to come to its end

(some 150 years before the time of Jeremiah), the

idea

of a new

covenant was mentioned for the first time by Hosea (Hosea 2:18-

20).

At the moments in history when God's plans for His covenant

people were hampered by their rebellion and unbelief, He sent

prophets to proclaim that the covenant history with His faithful

had not come to an end. (See Eze. 11:19; 18:31; 36:26 where the

"new heart" or "new spirit" brings to mind the "new cov-

enant.") Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and also Isaiah speak about

the "new covenant."

What views of the "new covenant" are present in the book of

Isaiah? Isa. 42:6, 7; 54:10; 59:21.

Through Isaiah, God speaks of the covenant in ways that sug-

gest the "new covenant." He says of the coming Servant-

Messiah, "I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to

the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the pris-

oners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in dark-

ness" (Isa. 42:6, 7, RSV). The Servant-Messiah wraps the fu-

ture covenant within Himself. (See Isa. 49:8.) The divine Spirit

will always be with His covenant people (Isa. 59:21). God offers

the "covenant of . . . peace" (Isa. 54:10) and salvation.

What kind of heart opens to the "new covenant"?

The Lord will provide "a heart to know that I am the Lord"

(Jer. 24:7, RSV), and "one heart and one way" (Jer. 32:39, RSV).

He will "take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a

heart of flesh" (Eze. 11:19, RSV), and will give "a new heart"

and "a new spirit" (Eze. 36:26, RSV). He also says, "I will put

My Spirit within you" (verse 27, NASB). This work of God is

the foundation of the new covenant.

Further Study:

Heb. 9:15; 10:15-18; 12:24.

The New Covenant



10 Monday

November 29

Part 2

;PARTNERS

With whom would God make the new covenant? Jer. 31:31, 33.

(See RSV.)

It is clearly announced that the new covenant is to be made

with "the house of Israel and the house of Judah" or simply "the

house of Israel." By some, this has been taken to mean that the

"new covenant" is for the ancient nation of Israel and for no one

else. But this can hardly be the case. The Lord first offered the

"new covenant" to His people whom He had elected and with

whom He had made a covenant at Mount Sinai. Israel failed to

take advantage of the method of faith that results in the obedience

of faith. This failure is at the heart of the revelations of God to

Moses.

A characteristic of the "new covenant" is the writing of the law

within the heart. "I will write it upon their hearts" (Jer. 31:33,

RSV). This writing of the law (God's will, character, and rev-

elation) within is not forced upon any member of Israel. God will

work the law inwardly, making it a part of the total person and his

will, subject only to the individual's choice. God will not and

never has forced His law into the heart of anyone.

The mark of the "new covenant" community is not family

descent from Abraham, but acceptance of God's wish to write

His law inwardly. This act of God makes the law a part of the

total will of the believer so that the believer may obey by faith. In

turn, having the law written upon the heart makes any new cov-

enant person a member of spiritual Israel. (See Gal. 3:28, 29.)

What does the New Testament have to

say

about those who be-

long to and are experiencing the "new covenant"? Eph. 2:11-22.

In the New Testament the Jews, responding to the election of

grace, received Jesus Christ and His gospel. For a time they

were the heart of the church (Matt. 18:15-20), thus continuing as

God's people—the "remnant, chosen by grace" (Rom. 11:5,

RSV). Faithless Jews, on the other hand, were described as

"hardened" (verse 7, RSV), thus not constituting the true Israel.

Gentiles, who formerly did not believe, accepted the gospel and

were grafted into God's true people made up of believers no mat-

ter to what people or race they belonged (verses 13-24). So the

Gentiles "at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the

commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of prom-

ise' (Eph. 2:12, RSV) were brought near in the blood of Christ.

(See verse 19, RSV.) Christ is mediating the "new covenant"

(Heb. 9:15, RSV). for

all

believers.

Have I allowed the law to be written within my heart?

Further Study:

Rom. 11:17-24.

The New Covenant



Tuesday

November 30

Part 3

ITS NATURE

Study Jeremiah 31:31-34 to discover the nature of the new cov-

enant and its various parts.

Among the several elements, the following call for careful con-

sideration:

God takes first step.

From the beginning to end, Jeremiah

31:31-34 stresses God's initiative. Hence the words "I will make"

announce God's saving action in the future. This new covenant

promise concludes with words which describe final and total for-

giveness: "I will forgive" and "I will remember their sin no

more.

Human response.

God's new covenant promise does not

make human response unnecessary. Neither is the new covenant

in Jeremiah kept unbroken without regard to the law of God.

The lasting nature of the new covenant comes from the Lord

Himself. He will work a change in the human heart by His en-

abling grace, making it possible for the believer to fulfill the law.

(See Jer. 24:7.)

"My law."

An element shared with the earlier covenants—

with Adam, Abraham, and particularly with Israel at Mount

Sinai—is God's law. Here called "my law" (Jer. 31:33), it was

written on tablets of stone in the Sinai covenant (Ex. 24:12; 31:18;

34:1, 28) and was even called "the covenant" (1 Kings 8:21).

This law of God is neither faulty nor done away with. (See

The

Desire of Ages,

p. 329.) But this divine law is not to remain exter-

nal; it will be written by God "upon their hearts" through His

Spirit. Thus the law becomes the shaping part of the believer's

will until the human will and the divine law conform to each other

perfectly.

Purpose of covenanting.

God does not speak of a new law

but of a new covenant. The law, as the standard of a godly way

of life, gives expression to this new covenant relationship by this

formula: "I . . . will be their God, and they shall be my people"

(Jer. 31:33). (See also 7:23; 32:38.) Thus was the Sinai covenant

relationship described. (See Ex. 6:7; Deut. 26:16-19; Lev. 26:12.)

The Sinai relationship which was so short lived is to be re-

newed, restored, and made permanent.

Results of covenanting.

Among the results of the new cov-

enant experiences are the following:

A new covenant community, a spiritual Israel made up of

those who allow God to implant His law within them.

A renewed, profound, and lasting relationship with the

covenanting Lord, the God of true salvation.

The gratifying blessing of forgiveness which brings

peace to mind and soul. (See Jer. 31:34.)

Have I entered and do I daily experience the new covenant rela-

tionship?

The New Covenant



Wednesday

December 1

Part 4



What is actually "new" in the "new covenant"? 1 Cor. 11:25,

NEWNESS

RSV; Heb. 8:8.

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the

house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fa-

thers" (Jer. 31:31, 32, RSV).

While the designation "new covenant" is found only in Jere-

miah 31:31 in the Old Testament, it appears as "new covenant"

in Luke 22:20 (RSV); 1 Corinthians 11:25 (RSV); 2 Corinthians

3:6 (RSV); Hebrews 8:8 (Greek

diatheke kaine),

13; 9:15 (RSV);

and Hebrews 12:24 (Greek

diatheke neas).

In our language, the

opposite of "new" is "old." But we must allow the Bible to tell

us its meaning of "new." In Jeremiah 31:31 it translates the He-

brew term

chadasah,

which in the Old Testament frequently

means (1) "to renew" or "to restore" and (2) something "new"

which was not present in the same way or quality before. In this

sense the "new covenant" is a "renewed" or "restored" cov-

enant or simply a "renewed covenant" which may have charac-

teristics not present in the same way or quality before.

The New Testament terms for "new" are the Greek

kainos

and

neos

respectively. Sometimes each carries a different mean-

ing from the other:

neos

is said to be something brand-new,

whereas

kainos

refers to what is new in nature or better in quality

than the former. Without stressing this distinction unduly, the

"new covenant" would be new in time and, in some sense, better

than the former. In short, the "new covenant" is a "renewed

covenant" which has superior benefits for man. The newness

of the "new covenant" is also expressed as being a "better"

(Heb. 8:6), a "second" (Heb. 8:7), or an "eternal covenant"

(Heb. 13:20, RSV).

What does the apostle Paul teach about the newness of the new

covenant? Rom. 7:6; 2 Cor. 3:6, RSV.

Paul stressed time and again the impossibility of the legalistic

way of claiming that salvation can be gained by fulfilling the law.

He showed, rather, that the new covenant is a covenant of the

Spirit in which the believer serves in the newness of the Spirit and

not in the oldness of the letter.

the new covenant "the Spirit

gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6. RSV), because God will write the law

within the believer through His Spirit. (See also Jer. 31:33.)

Thus law keeping is the result of the new life and salvation but

not the means to gain salvation.

Do you experience every day the newness of the new covenant

written in your heart by the Holy Spirit?

The New Covenant



Thursday

December 2

Part



Who is the perfect and all-sufficient mediator of the new cov-

ITS MEDIATOR

enant? Heb.

9:15. (See RSV.)

In the heart of the letter to the Hebrews there is a section in

chapters 8:1 to 10:25 in which the new covenant is the center of

discussion. Within this new covenant setting, Jesus Christ is de-

scribed as the "mediator of a new covenant."

Jesus Christ is our heavenly Mediator of a superior covenant.

He fulfilled the type of the Old Testament in two ways:

He is

the Sacrifice

upon which the new covenant is based

and whose blood ratifies it. Christ's own blood shed at Calvary

ratified or made actual the new covenant and made the Sinai cov-

enant and its mediatorial system "old" in point of time. "The

Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is

called the 'second,' or 'new,' covenant, because the blood by

which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first [or old]

covenant."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 371. (See also Ex. 24:

1-8.)

He is, like Moses,

the Mediator

of the covenant. This in-

volves redemption "from the transgressions under the first cov-

enant" (Heb. 9:15, RSV). So the sacrifices of the Sinai covenant

were types pointing forward to Christ's death on the cross.

They found their meaning in the sacrificial, substitutionary

death of Christ. His mediator ship also effects the redemption of

all believers under the new covenant.

What is the New Testame/ it description of Christ as Mediator?

1 Tim.

2:5; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 11:24.

Paul depicts Moses as the "mediator" (Greek

meshes)

of the

law (Gal. 3:19), but in 1 Tim. 2:5 the Lord Jesus Christ, who

gave Himself as a ransom for all, is designated as the "one media-

tor

(mesites)

between God and men" (RSV). The term "media-

tor" is one of the great New Testament titles of Jesus. A media-

tor is a person who functions as a go-between or peace-arranger,

bringing together two estranged parties. Thus Jesus Christ is

the only heavenly "mediator" between us and God.

Jesus Christ, our Mediator, stands good for our debts to God.

In the new covenant sanctuary in heaven, He engages in a better

ministry (Heb. 8:6) of a "better covenant" (verse 6, RSV), pro-

viding a "new and living way" (Heb. 10:20, RSV) through which

we can with confidence "draw near to the throne of grace" (Heb.

4:16, RSV). His ongoing mediation in the heavenly sanctuary is

so perfect and of such a superior nature that as "mediator" He is

the surety and guarantee of our salvation. (See Heb. 7:22.)

Further Study:

Heb. 9:11-28; 6:17.

The New Covenant



10 Friday

December 3



Part 6



What characteristics cause the new covenant to be superior to the



ITS



old covenant? Heb. 8:6, 7.

(See RSV.)

IPERIORITY

The "new covenant" is a continuation of the Edenic-

Abrahamic-Sinaitic (Mosaic) covenants. There is in them all an

essential unity and continuity. The new covenant is the renewal

of the old covenant with features that render the new covenant

superior:

Superiority of the law written in the heart.

Under the old

covenant—we will be obedient—the law was written on tablets of

stone (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 34:1, 28), the intent of which was to be-

come implanted in man. In the new, eternal covenant—I will

make—the same law (which clearly means that the law has no

fault) is to be written on the hearts of believers to cause God's will

to spread through the believer's will.

Superiority of obedience.

The trouble with the old cov-

enant in Moses' day and later was not with the covenant-making

God, with the moral law, or with God's promises of a redeemer,

but with the people who "did not continue in my covenant"

(Heb. 8:9, RSV) and "which [covenant] they broke" (Jer. 31:32,

RSV). The demand for obedience remains the same in both old

and new covenants; but in the new, obedience through faith is

made possible by the grace of the Christ who has come.

Superiority of Christ's heavenly high priesthood.

The

levitical priests were weak men, sinful and mortal, serving in an

earthly tabernacle, a copy only of the true sanctuary in heaven.

(See Heb. 7:23, 27, 28; 8:2, 4, 5; 9:1.) Their sacrifices were ani-

mal sacrifices, the blood of which could not itself take away sins

(Heb. 10:1-4). The sacrifices had to be brought repeatedly

(10:11). Christ's high priesthood is superior because He is very

God of very God (Heb. 1:3), a "once for all" sacrifice (Heb.

10:10-14, RSV) obtaining eternal redemption for us (Heb. 1:3;

10:12, 13; 12:2), ministering the benefits of His blood in the real,

original sanctuary in heaven (Heb. 9:12), thus providing access to

the very presence of God (Heb. 10:19-24).

Superiority of forgiveness.

God's forgiveness was experi-

enced by the penitent in the period of the Sinai covenant (Ex.

34:6, 7; Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 19:22; Ps. 103:12; Isa. 38:17; 43:25;

Neh. 9:17). But the forgiveness was a looking forward to the for-

giveness secured by the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:15), "shed for

many for the remission of sins" (Matt. 26:28). In the old cov-

enant, sin was forgiven in view of Christ's coming death on the

cross. To this the sacrifices pointed. But in the new covenant,

forgiveness is bestowed on the basis of what our Lord accom-

plished on the cross.

Am I living today on the basis of the old covenant, or is my life

conducted under the blessings of the new covenant?

December 5.11

Adult Lesson

DAYS OF

REAPING

sw Cowan

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&UtieRriez

"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are

called may receive the promised eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:15, RSV).

When God established the covenant relationship with man after

the first sin, He also gave him the system of substitute animal sacri-

fices. The Sinai covenant with Israel likewise gave instruction

in the ways the Israelite could rid himself of sin through the offering of

sacrifices. Thus he could be forgiven and restored to covenant

relationship with his God. So it was that the old covenant had a sanc-

tuary, a priesthood, and daily and yearly sacrifices and services.

The new covenant—made secure by Christ's blood—also has a

sanctuary. It is the "real" sanctuary in heaven (Heb. 8:2, 5; 9:8,

11) of which the earthly was but the "copy and shadow" (Heb. 8:5,

RSV). This heavenly sanctuary was anointed by Christ (Dan.

9:24). The new covenant also has a priesthood, namely, the priest-

hood and high priesthood of Jesus Christ. Where there is a sanctu-

ary and a priesthood, there are also ministries—the subject of this les-

son.

The letter to the Hebrews gives primary and basic evidence about

Jesus Christ as "a minister in the sanctuary and true tent which is

set up not by man but by the Lord" (Heb. 8:2, RSV). The total bibli-

cal testimony gives a picture of Christ's two-phase ministry in the

two parts of the heavenly sanctuary. (It paralleled the two-part minis-

try in the earthly.) This ministry began with Christ's ascension.

It shows what Christ gained for us on the cross. These benefits are

applied in His priestly and high-priestly ministries in the heavenly

sanctuary. An understanding of Christ's work makes it possible for us

(1)

to enter into a richer relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ;

(2)

to proclaim Christ's complete gospel of the cross and resurrection

in the past and the mediatorial, judicial, and cleansing ministries

in the present; (3) to bring people into the total light of the plan of re-

demption including the cleansing of the sanctuary, followed by the

second advent; (4) to create awareness of the importance of God's

judgment hour; and (5) thus to prepare a people to meet our pre-

cious Lord in the clouds of heaven soon..

New Covenant Ministries



Sunday

December

Part 1



"Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst"

iANCTUARY

(Ex. 25:8, RSV).

DWELLING

PLACE



The purpose of the sanctuary was that God might "taberna-

cle" with His covenant people. Every step in the process of the

making of the covenant (Ex. 19:1-6; 24:1-11) and in the giving of

the law (Ex. 20:1-17) was a guarantee of the reality of the pres-

ence of the Holy God.

What pattern did God provide for the physical structure of His

dwelling place? Ex. 25:40.

Here the word

—

pattern" refers to a scale "model" or

"copy"—in other words, a miniature presentation of the heav-

enly sanctuary. Thus the wilderness sanctuary was the result of

a heavenly vision (Num. 8:4) and is a "copy and shadow" (Heb.

8:5, RSV) of the reality of the heavenly sanctuary. Since the

earthly sanctuary is but a "shadow," the reality is in heaven.

The "shadow" on earth reflects the true, physical reality—the

two-part sanctuary in heaven—which casts the shadow. (See also

Ex. 25:40; 26:30; 27:8; and

Spiritual Gifts,

vol. 4b, p. 5.)

To what extent does the Old Testament support the concept of a

real heavenly sanctuary? Ps. 11:4; 18:6; 29:9; 60:6

(see

RSV); 68:35

(see

RSV); 96:6; 102:19; Micah 1:2, 3; Hab. 2:20; Jonah 2:7.

There is abundant evidence that God's "true" sanctuary

(Heb. 8:2) is in heaven. This is where God's sanctuary/house/

temple is located. But God chose to have a miniature model on

earth as a type (Heb. 8:5) of the heavenly reality.

Why does God wish to dwell in the sanctuary in the midst of His

people? Lev. 26:11, 12.

The verb describing God's "dwelling" or "tabernacling" in

the midst of Israel is quite different from the usual Hebrew term

for "living" at a place. God "lives" or makes His habitation in

heaven (see Ps. 2:4; 123:1; 132:13) but "dwells" among His

earthly people in His earthly sanctuary or abode in the sense that

His glory, filling the sanctuary, is with His people. The purpose

of this "dwelling" is to carry out the covenant pledge: "I . . . will

be your God, and you shall be my people" (Lev. 26:12, RSV). In

the worship of God in the sanctuary, the covenant people realize

their new freedom to "walk erect" (Lev. 26:13, RSV).

Further Study:

Heb. 8:1-5; 9:1-11.

New Covenant Ministries



Monday

December 6

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with

Part

blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness"

SIN AND

(Heb. 9:22, NIV).

SACRIFICE

The divinely appointed way for the Old Testament sinner

to rid himself of sin and guilt was through animal sacrifices. The

Israelite sacrificial offerings are detailed in Leviticus 1 through 7.

Careful attention was paid to the use and disposal of the blood in

the various kinds of sacrifices. Indeed, the role of blood in sacrifi-

cial rituals is one of the unifying features in the Israelite sacri-

fices.

The person who had sinned—and thus had broken the cov-

enant relationship and the law which regulated it—could be re-

stored to full fellowship with God and man by bringing an animal

sacrifice as a substitute. Sacrifices, with their rites, were the God-

appointed means to bring about cleansing from sin and guilt.

They were instituted to cleanse the sinner, transferring individ-

ual sin and guilt by blood sprinkling to the sanctuary, and

reinstituting communion and full covenantal fellowship of the

penitent with the personal God who remained the saving Lord.

What prophetic significance was there in the animal sacrifice?

Isa. 53:4-12; Heb. 10:4.

The

Old Testament animal sacrifices were the divinely or-

dained means for ridding the sinner of sin and guilt. They

changed the sinner's status from that of guilty and worthy of

death to that of forgiven and reestablished in the covenantal God-

man relationship. But there was a sense in which the animal sacri-

fices were prophetic in nature. No animal, after all, was an ade-

quate substitute in atoning for man's sin and guilt. (For

glimpses of this, see Isaiah 53; Hosea 6:6; Ps. 50:8-15; 51:17-19.)

The author of Hebrews states it in his own language: "It is im-

possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins"

(Heb. 10:4, RSV). Thus an animal sacrifice was meant to be a

looking forward to the coming of the divine-human Servant of

God, who would die a substitutionary death for the sins of the

world.

All too often the deeper significance of the sacrifices was for-

gotten. Heathen practices in the worship of gods began to be at-

tached to Israel's worship of Yahweh. Sacrifices were sometimes

offered in vast quantities as though the numbers had merit. (See

Isa. 1:10-14; Micah 6:6, 7.)

Was the animal sacrifice in Old Testament times a truly adequate

means of restoring the relationship with God which sin had broken?

Further Study:

Ex. 29:10-21; Lev. 4:1-23.

New Covenant Ministries



Tuesday

December 7

Part 3

MB OF GOD

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the

world!" (John 1:29, RSV).

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is one of the major themes of the

New Testament. He is spoken of as the Lamb of God slain as a

substitute for sinners. Paul describes Jesus as the "paschal [Pass-

over] lamb" that has been "sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5:7, RSV). In-

deed, Jesus Christ "gave himself up for us" as a "sacrifice to

God" (Eph. 5:2, RSV), "like that of a lamb without blemish or

spot" (1 Peter 1:19, RSV). He "offered for all time a single sacri-

fice for sin" (Heb. 10:12, RSV).

What expressions in the New Testament reveal that Christ's sac-

rificial death was substitutionary? Gal. 1:4; 3:13; Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor.

15:3; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15.

The idea that Christ's death on the cross was substitutionary

is no longer accepted by large numbers of interpreters. The rea-

sons for this denial vary. Yet the substitutionary aspects of

Christ's death cannot easily be denied. The New Testament

consistently emphasizes that Christ, who was Himself "without

sin" (Heb. 4:15), died "for" sin and was crucified for men. Christ

"gave himself for our sins" (Gal. 1:4); He "was put to death for

our trespasses" (Rom. 4:25, RSV); He "died for our sins accord-

ing to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3). These several passages

surely demonstrate that Christ's death on the cross was substitu-

tionary. He died in our place; He substituted Himself for us; He

died the death, paying the penalty for our sins, thereby providing

life and fellowship with Him, with the Father, and the Holy

Spirit.

What benefits come to you from the substitutionary death of

Christ?

"Christ's death and resurrection completed His covenant. Be-

fore this time, it was revealed through types and shadows, which

pointed to the great offering to be made by the world's redeemer,

offered in promise for the sins of the world... .

". . . When as a sinless offering Christ bowed His head and

died, when by the Almighty's unseen hand the veil of the temple

was rent in twain, a new and living way was opened. All can now

approach God through the merits of Christ. . . . Liberty is given to

all to go directly to God through a personal Saviour."—Ellen G.

White Comments,

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol.

7, p. 932.

Further Study:

The Desire of Ages,

chapter 78, "Calvary."

New Covenant Ministries



1 1

Wednesday

December 8

Part 4



Where is Christ, our heavenly High Priest, engaged in ministry

PLACE OF now? Heb. 8:1, 2. (See NASB.)

MINISTRY

The author of Hebrews indicated that Jesus Christ had taken

His place at God's right hand to minister in the heavenly sanctu-

ary which is here called the

—

true tabernacle." The

adjective"true" used in the Greek text means "real" as opposed

to "apparent"—a reality and not simply an idea or a metaphor.

The New English Bible reads "real sanctuary."

The letter to the Hebrews informs us that in the upper heav-

ens (4:14; 7:26; 8:1; 9:24; 12:25, 26), which are far above the earth

and the heavens that will be shaken by God (1:10-12; 11:12 [sky];

12:26), there is the reality of the heavenly Jerusalem (11:10; 12:22;

13:14) and the "real" sanctuary (8:2, 5; 9:8, 11). True to its

earthly copy, it has two compartments (8:2, 5; 9:8, 11, 12, 23, 24;

10:19)—or two arenas—and contains the throne of God (4:16; 8:1;

12:2).

What does the book of Revelation teach about the reality of the

heavenly sanctuary? Rev. 11:19; 14:17; 15:5.

Revelation does not support the idea that all of heaven is the

santuary. Rather, it distinguishes between heaven as heaven and

the sanctuary/temple within heaven. Notice Revelation 11:19.

The Greek text reads literally: "The temple of God, the one

which is in heaven, was opened." The same distinction appears

in Revelation 13:17 and 15:5. Certainly no earthly structure or

copy could compare to the vastness of the two-division (two-

arena) heavenly sanctuary. There God's throne is placed (Rev.

7:15), the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies (Rev. 11:19),

and the golden altar of incense in the holy place (Rev. 8:3-5).

In the biblical types, what relationsip exists between the heavenly

and earthly sanctuaries? Heb. 8:1-5; 9:8, 11.

As there was an earthly sanctuary, priesthood, and ministry un-

der the old covenant, so there is a heavenly sanctuary, Christ's

priesthood, and His ministry under the new. Hebrews 8:1-5

speaks of this vertical, heavenly-earthly, original-copy type. He-

brews 9:1-5 describes the structure of the earthly sanctuary with

holy and holy of holies; verses 6 and 7 describe services. He-

brews 9:8, RSV, uses the expression "outer tent" (including both

the holy place and the holy of holies) and the expression "sanctu-

ary" (Greek

to hagia)

of the whole heavenly sanctuary with its

two divisions. (The KJV uses the terms "first tabernacle" and

"holiest of all.") The "greater and more perfect tent (not made

with hands)" in verse 11 (RSV) refers to the heavenly two-divi-

sion sanctuary.

New Covenant Ministries



11 Thursday

December 9

Part 5



How is our Lord described as functioning in His heavenly sanctu-

HEAVENLY ary ministry? Heb. 7:15, 16, 26, 27.

INISTRY-1

The New Testament presents Jesus Christ as heavenly

"priest" as well as "high priest." Each calls for brief consider-

ation.

The designation "priest" for Christ appears three times

(Heb. 7:15; 8:4; 10:21). Christ is presented as royal priest (Heb.

7:15, 16) after the order of Melchisedec. In that position He ful-

fills the priestly service in behalf of believers in His antitypical

ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

The typology of Christ as "high priest" is seen in Hebrews

where He is nine times designated by the title "high priest" (Heb.

2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:5, 10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11). His work is seen in

antitypical fulfillment of the Levitical priesthood. Christ's ap-

pointment as heavenly "high priest" came as a result of a divine

call or designation (Heb. 5:10) and not through physical inheri-

tance or self-appointment. The nature of Christ's high priest-

hood is vastly superior to the Levitical because of His "indestruc-

tible life" (Heb. 7:16, RSV); the everlasting nature of His

ministry (Heb. 6:20; 7:17, 24); His continuous intercession (Heb.

7:25) based on His perfect self-sacrifice (Heb. 7:27) provided

"once for all" (Heb. 7:27, RSV; 9:12, 26; Rom. 6:10; 1 Peter

3:18).

Christ's "once for all" sacrifice for man on the cross rendered

the entire limited Levitical system unnecessary. His substitution-

ary death fulfilled the meaning of all sacrifices in the Levitical

system. Christ as heavenly Priest and High Priest applies to be-

lievers the benefits and merits of His own sacrificial death in the

two phases of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. This two-

phase ministry corresponds to the two-division heavenly sanctu-

ary.

"As Christ's ministration was to consist of two great divisions,

each occupying a period of time and having a distinctive place in

the heavenly sanctuary, so the typical ministry consisted of two

divisions, the daily and the yearly service, and to each a depart-

ment of the tabernacle was

devoted."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 357.

The superior qualities of this heavenly ministry of Christ pro-

vides "access" to God (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 2:18; 1 Peter 3:18) and

satisfies precisely the needs of the believer. It is all-sufficient,

perfect, and superior.

What other designations are used in the New Testament for

Christ's heavenly ministry? 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15; Rom. 8:34;

1 John 2:1.

New Covenant Ministries



11 Friday

December 10

Part 6



In what ways is Christ's second-phase heavenly ministry foretold

HEAVENLY

in the Old Testament? Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14; 8:14.

MINISTRY-2

The judgment scene in Daniel 7 is set within the time of the

end—after the 1260-year domination of the little horn power over

the people of God—and before the latter receive the kingdom of

God. (See Dan. 7:21, 22.) Daniel 8:13, 14 expands upon the vision

of Daniel 7 and indicates the time for the "cleansing" of the heav-

enly sanctuary. It commences when the 2300 years are concluded

in A.D. 1844. (See Dan. 9:24-27 for the beginning of the 2300

years in the 457 B.C. decree of Artaxerxes.)

The term "sanctuary" in Daniel 8:14 is

qodeg,

the very term

used in the Day of Atonement chapter, Leviticus 16. (See verses

2, 3, 16, 17, 20, 23, 27.) In Leviticus the cleansing is that of the old

covenant, but in Daniel 8:14 it is that of the new covenant which

was anointed after Christ's death and ascension. (See Dan. 9:24,

last phrase.)

For the activity in the heavenly sanctuary Daniel used the

word

nisdaq,

a rare form used only here in the Old Testament.

It has been translated "cleansed" from the earliest version

(Septuagint, Theodotian, Vulgate [Latin], Syriac, etc.) onward.

"Cleansed" is part of its connotation (see parallels between He-

brew terms for "cleanse," "purify" and related forms of

nisdaq

such as

sadaq,"righteous,"

"just," "justified," etc., in Job 4:17;

17:9; 25:4; Ps. 51:7; Prov. 20:7-9), but it includes the ideas of "set-

ting right" or "restoring" as well as "justifying" and "vindicat-

ing."

Thus Christ's

cleansing" heavenly ministry that began in

1844 involves a blotting out of sin; the "setting right" or "restor-

ing" involves gaining proper recognition of the purpose of this

last phase of the heavenly ministry; the "justifying" involves that

phase of judgment activity in which decision is rendered about

those who will be raised to life and those to be rescued at the

second coming (see Dan. 12:1-3). The vindication involves the

clearing of the saints (and demonstrating the justice of all God's

ways) before the universe (see Dan. 7:9, 10) and their being ac-

counted worthy of God's kingdom.

How does the typology in Hebrews contribute to an understand-

ing of Christ's second-phase heavenly activity? Heb. 9:12, 23, 24.

As the earthly priests entered the sanctuary with blood during

the daily and yearly services, so Jesus Christ entered the sanctu-

ary in heaven with His "own blood" once for all (Heb. 9:12). As

the earthly sanctuary of the old covenant was cleansed, so the

heavenly sanctuary of the new covenant is to be cleansed "with

better sacrifices than these" (Heb. 9:23, RSV).

•

=mum=

DAYS OF

REAPING

December 12.18

Adult Lesson

Covenant, Fart

Righteous ss

"As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt

before Him, and began asking Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do to

inherit eternal life?' " (Mark 10:17, NASB).

The searching question that comes to every person at some

stage in life is this: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" It was

asked by the rich young ruler (Matt. 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31;

Luke 18:18-30) and has been asked time and again. The passport to

"eternal life"—according to the prevailing opinion of Judaism at

the time the question was addressed to Jesus—was taken to be righ-

teousness earned by works and merited through law keeping.

This rich young ruler had kept the law, in a formal sense at least,

and no doubt he kept the rabbinic requirements as well. Yet there

was within him gnawing uncertainty about salvation. When Jesus told

the searching young man, "Keep the commandments" (Matt.

19:17) and received the reply that he had done so, Jesus pointed out

that he did not

love

other human beings as much as he loved him-

self. (See verses 19-22.)

The rich young man had, by his strength and upbringing, ob-

served the letter of the law but not its spirit. Thus he "had not kept

the commandments at all. He should have accepted Jesus Christ

as his Saviour and taken hold of His righteousness. Then, as he had

the righteousness of Christ, he could keep the law of God."—El-

len G. White,

Faith and Works,

pp. 70, 71.

In this lesson we attempt to recognize anew that God once

made a covenant in which animal sacrifices pointed forward to the

great Sacrifice, Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 36). God's covenant

promise calls forth faith, and genuine faith is reckoned as righteous-

ness (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3-8). The nature of this faith and God's

act of reckoning it as righteousness indicate that we can of ourselves

add nothing to our salvation. Yet saving faith in Christ's merits is

not a faith that is empty of works. Works are a result of true faith.

While the matter is settled that the merits of fallen man in his good

works can never procure eternal life, the fact is equally obvious that

the law of God will be lovingly kept in the strength and enabling

power of the Divine Redeemer.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness



Sunday

December 12

Part 1

OLD COVENANT

AND

SACRIFICES

What instruction was given so that the person who had sinned

and thus had broken the covenant relation with God could regain a

right standing with God?

"If any one of the common people sins unwittingly in doing any

one of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done,

and is guilty, . . . he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female

without blemish, for his sin which he has committed" (Lev. 4:27,

28, RSV).

In the period before the cross, God had in His love established

the institution of bringing animal sacrifices for reestablishing the

God-man relationship when broken by man's sin. Since the ulti-

mate result of sin is the death of the sinner (compare Gen. 2:16,

17)—as the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23)—the animal sacrificed by the

sinner served as his substitute (Num. 15:27-29; Isa. 53:6-10; com-

pare Gen. 22:9-14).

Every sacrifice offered assisted in changing the standing of the

guilty one. By the acts of the laying on of hands and confessing

the sin(s) (Lev. 1:4; 5:5), the act of killing, and the subsequent

priestly application of blood—cleansing came to the sinner. His

sin and guilt were transferred, as it were, to the sanctuary. But the

rites themselves did not cleanse or redeem, for "it is impossible

that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins" (Heb.

10:4, RSV). The old covenant sacrifices were pointing forward

to the only adequate Sacrifice, the Son of God.

Under the old covenant, if animal sacrifices were faithfully of-

fered in perfect obedience, did the sinner gain forgiveness and right

standing with God by God's grace or by man's own merit?

It has been suggested time and again that in Old Testament

times—at least under the system established for Israel at Sinai—

salvation and eternal life were earned and merited by perfect obe-

dience. Likewise it has been suggested that animal sacrifices

automatically brought with them forgiveness, blessings, and life.

The truth is that the Old Testament way of salvation under

the Mosaic covenant is no different from the New Testament

way of salvation. Accordingly, there is no way of salvation that is

"of law" under the Mosaic covenant, while another is "of grace"

under the new covenant. Whether in the Old or New Testa-

ment, faith is not simply joined by good works—as if there were a

righteousness to be gained by combined faith and works—but

faith is the mainspring or source for "good works." This "obe-

dience of faith" (Rom. 1:5; 16:26, RSV) renders meaningless all

works calculated to merit life, blessing, and salvation from God.

Further Study:

Rom. 3:21-27;

Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp.

372,373.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness



Monday

December 13



Part



"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the

OVENANT

world!" (John 1:29, RSV).

AND THE



ACRIFICE



When John

the Baptist cried out, "Behold, the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world!" and later declared again,

"Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36), he was surely speaking

of Jesus Christ as

the

sacrificial Lamb in whom all the sacrificial

types of the Old Testament find their meaning and fulfillment.

Indeed, Jesus is "the Lamb that was slain" (Rev. 5:12).

What does the apostle Peter affirm about Christ's achievement

on the cross? 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

When Peter speaks about Christ's atoning death on the cross,

the "ransom" or price idea to which he refers brings to mind the

ancient practice of the manumission of a slave. A price for his

ransom was deposited at a shrine of a god, who supposedly re-

turned it to the master of the slave. Many slaves saved enough

money to buy their freedom, but a kinsman or friend could pro-

vide the money to redeem the slave from the owner. Christ ran-

somed us from slavery to sin, but not with money. He did it with

His "precious blood," His substitutionary and voluntary death

on Calvary "like that of a lamb without blemish or without spot."

What does Christ

say

about giving His life for man? Mark 10:45.

Jesus Christ had very clearly stated the purpose of His coming,

namely, "to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Thus Paul speaks of Christ as the One "who gave himself a ran-

som for all" (1 Tim. 2:6). So every one is "bought with a price"

(1 Cor. 6:20; compare 2 Peter 2:1)—that price is the sufferings and

death of Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Thus the New Testa-

ment emphasizes these facts:

The costliness of the divine Sacrifice ("precious blood,"

not perishable money, 1 Peter 1:19).

The perfect nature of the Sacrifice ("without blemish or

spot," 1 Peter 1:19, RSV).

The superior ransom-redemption power ("blood of

Christ," not animal blood, Heb. 9:14) that marks this Sacrifice as

all-sufficient. Christ's sacrifice of Himself was "once for all"

(Heb. 9:26, RSV).

What can works performed to achieve merit in God's sight add to

the accomplishments of the sacrifice of Christ?

Further Study:

Isaiah 53.

Covevnant, Faith, and Righteousness

Tuesday

December 14

Part



"He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteous-

COVENANT

ness" (Gen. 15:6).

AND FAITH

This is one of the most profound statements about faith in all

the Bible. The patriarch Abraham wondered about the divine

promise concerning offspring. He was quite willing to substitute

the head servant of his household for an authentic son. But the

Lord insisted that one born from his own loins should be his heir,

despite the inability of Abraham and Sarah to produce a child nat-

urally. In response to the particular promise that one could come

forth from his own body, Abraham "believed in the Lord."

What is it exactly that causes faith to be reckoned for righteous-

ness?

The context of Genesis 15:6 reveals that Abraham's faith was

demonstrated in total trust or unconditional confidence in the

Lord and His promise. While from a physical and natural point of

view the patriarch had every reason to despair, Abraham put his

total trust in God to act in his behalf. Evidently faith was not a

source of merit to Abraham; neither was it an intellectual assent

to a fixed body of truth. Faith was and is wholehearted trust and

confidence in the Lord and His promises.

What is the contextual setting of this faith experience? Gen. 12:1

through 15:5.

From his call at age 75, Abraham lived in a covenantal rela-

tionship with God (Gen. 12:4). This relationship was one of a

life of obedience, even though there was the report of serious

lapses (for example, Gen. 12:10-20). During that life of overall

obedience—which never functions as the way to achieve a right

standing with God—Abraham was declared righteous. It was as a

consequence of faith that God reckoned Abraham as righteous.

The reason for Abraham's "justification" was not his good

works or any merits on his part, but simply that he "believed" or

had faith in the Lord and His promise.

Would I have believed in the Lord and His promise had I

been

Abraham's place? Or do I trust in my good deeds to have right

standing with God?

"Justification is wholly of grace and not procured by any works

that fallen man can do."—Ellen G. White,

Faith and Works,

p. 20.

Further Study:

Gal. 3:6-10.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness

Wednesday

December 15

Part 4

NANT AND

EOUSNESS

In what way is God's beneficent covenant associated with the

righteousness that is reckoned to Abraham? Gen. 15:18.

The narrative of Genesis 15 affirms that the Lord made a cov-

enant with Abraham on the day that he put his full trust and total

confidence in his Lord. In an earlier lesson we investigated the

covenant which God made with Abraham in three stages (Gen.

12:1-3; chapter 15; 17:1-14) over a period of more than two dec-

ades. God took the initiative in covenant making. He expected

faithfulness from Abraham. Abraham obeyed (Gen. 12:4,

"Abram departed"). But this obedience was not a merit reckoned

as righteousness. His faith was accounted as righteousness. In

Abraham's faith response to the Lord and His promises there was

no work that would merit him anything.

How does Paul refer to the faith that the Lord reckoned to Abra-

ham for righteousness? Rom. 4:1-5, 9-12, 18-22; Gal. 3:6.

In these passages the apostle Paul takes his key words—"it is

reckoned," "faith," "he believed," etc.—from the Greek ver-

sion of Genesis 15:6.

Abraham, the acknowledged father of all Israel, both of the

flesh and of the Spirit, believed God. The blessing of all who

will be saved hinges on this truth. If we may put words together,

"law-righteousness"—or we may say "works-righteousness" (if

there were such a thing in God's sight)—is based on performance;

it is grounded in "meritorious works." "Faith-righteousness,"

on the other hand, is not a reward that God gives for faithful ser-

vice. It is the acknowledgment of the utter inadequacy of one's

own righteousness and the affirming that "no man living is righ-

teous" (Ps. 143:2, RSV) by keeping the law (Gal. 2:15, 16).

"Faith-righteousness" is to trust wholeheartedly in God, to

take one's stand on God's revelation and promise. The righ-

teousness that comes from God (Rom. 10:3) does not rest on

"works of law" but on trust, confidence, and faith in God.

What can my works add to that which the Lord has already ac-

complished for my salvation?

"The only way in which he [the sinner] can attain to righ-

teousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits

of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the

sinner's account. Christ's righteousness is accepted in place of

man's failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant,

believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves

him as He loves His Son. This is how faith is accounted righ-

teousness."—Selected

Messages,

bk. 1, p. 367.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness



Thursday

December 16

Part 5

FAITH

RECKONED AS

RIGHTEOUSNESS

What does "counted" or "reckoned" in Genesis 15:6 mean?

Rom. 4:3-5. (Note how different translations render Genesis 15:6.)

Various translations have rendered the Hebrew term

"counted" (Hebrew

haSab)

according to the KJV either with

"reckoned" (ARV, RSV, NASB, etc.) or "credited" (NAB,

NIV) or "accounted" (Modern Language Bible).

The same term is employed in other texts in the books of Mo-

ses. A person or a thing is "reckoned" or "regarded" as some-

thing which that person or thing is not. For instance in Genesis

31:15, Rachel and Leah affirm that their father "reckons" (or "re-

gards" or "counts") them as strangers, although they are his

daughters. The tithe of the Levite is "reckoned" (or "re-

garded" or "counted") as though it were the corn of the threshing

floor, although it is obviously not the corn (Num. 18:27, 30).

How is the idea of reckoning expressed in the context of sacri-

fices? Lev. 7:18; 17:1-4.

The KJV

uses the word "imputed" to translate

hasab.

If a particular sacrifice ("peace offering") is not eaten by the

third day, its value is lost, and it shall not be "reckoned" (Lev.

7:18, NASB; Hebrew

hasab)

to the benefit of the offerer. Leviti-

cus 7:18 speaks of a situation in which a sacrifice is "reckoned"

to the benefit of the sinner (compare Lev. 17:1-4, NASB) who

then stands before God in righteousness. God is accounting the

sinner as righteous, although he himself is actually unrighteous.

What insight on "faith reckoned as righteousness" is gained

from the way "reckoning"

was

used in sacrificial law?

In the God-ordained sacrificial law, the declaration that the sac-

rifice is "reckoned" (or "accounted," etc.) to the sinner follows

the act of sacrifice. In Genesis 15:6 (RSV) it is not a sacrifice that

is "reckoned" as righteousness, but an act of faith in response to

God's initiative through His promise. Thus the divine act of be-

ing "reckoned" as righteous is based on faith evoked (or called

out) by God's promise.

Is faith a virtue or merit on my part by which salvation is

achieved?

"Faith is the condition upon which God has seen fit to prom-

ise pardon to sinners; not that there is any virtue in faith whereby

salvation is merited, but because faith can lay hold of the merits of

Christ, the remedy for

sin."—Selected Messages,

bk. 1, pp. 366,

367.

Covenant, Faith, and Righteousness



Friday

December 17



Part 6



What distinction is made between a living and a dead faith?

ilTH THAT



WORKS



"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But

someone may well say, 'You have faith, and I have works; show me

your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my

works" (James 2:17, 18, NASB).

Living faith is followed by good works. True faith results in

works. Real faith reveals its fruit in works. Thus faith and

works are closely related, and their proper source must be ac-

knowledged.

Both justification and sanctification are accomplished through

faith. "When through repentance and faith we accept Christ as

our Saviour, the Lord pardons our sins and remits the penalty

prescribed for the transgression of the law. The sinner then

stands before God as a just person; he is taken into favor with

Heaven and through the Spirit has fellowship with the Father

and the Son.

"Then there is yet another work to be accomplished, and this

is of a progressive nature. The soul is to be sanctified through

the truth. And this also is accomplished through faith. For it is

only by the grace of Christ, which we receive through faith, that

the character can be transformed."—Selected

Messages,

bk. 3,

p. 191.

How does Paul describe this living faith? Rom. 1:5; 16:26.

Paul stressed the principle of "the obedience of faith." Paul's

concept of "the obedience of faith" is a "faith working through

love" (Gal. 5:6, RSV) or a faith that "expresses itself in love"

(literal rendering of Gal. 5:6). Neither Paul nor Jesus Himself con-

sidered obedience to be an optional feature of Christian life: "If

you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15,

NASB; compare John 15:10; Matt. 19:17). "The faith that justi-

fies always produces first true repentance, and then good works,

which are the fruit of that faith. There is no saving faith that

does not produce good

fruit."—Selected Messages,

bk. 3, p. 195.

Are the "good works" done out of love for Jesus credited to you

for salvation?

"Our acceptance with God is sure only through His beloved

Son, and good works are but the result of the working of His sin-

pardoning love. They are no credit to us, and we have nothing

accorded to us for our good works by which we may claim a part

in the salvation of our souls. . . . He [the believer] cannot present

his good works as a plea for the salvation of his

soul."—Selected

Messages,

bk. 3, p. 199.

Nminimami.

•

immemimm

MY5 OF

REAPING

December 19.25

Adult Lesson

The He

versant

ifs

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more

abundantly" (John 10:10).

Life, real life, is much more than mere physical existence.

The great quest for the meaning of life at its fullest has taken many

different forms over long centuries of contemplation and study. It

has been a religious, philosophical, and scientific quest. Yet there is

still no agreement on the definition of life. In fact,

The New Ency-

clopaedia Britannica (1980

ed.) states flatly, "There is no generally

accepted definition of life."—Volume 10, p. 893. While this is the

case, it is a fact that all known life on planet Earth ends in death.

Thus human beings from time immemorial have attempted to

ensure the continuation of a person's life and to achieve the richest

and fullest life in the here and now.

All human quest for life is doomed to failure unless man avails him-

self of the divine revelation graciously provided by God in His

Word. In the first coming of Jesus Christ, and in His pronouncement,

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it

more abundantly" (John 10:10), are summed up the divine answer to

the human quest for life—life at its fullest and best.

In His divine goodness, God even chose to provide life by entering

into a new covenantal relationship with humankind after they had

estranged and alienated themselves from God through their rebellious

act of sin. As always in salvation, God took the first steps for giv-

ing life meaning and purpose. Life, the truly abundant life, is to be had

only in covenantal fellowship and communion with the Lord. (If

this has been said many times this quarter, it is because nothing more

vital can be said.) This was secured in the birth, life, death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of life in the here and

now and in the future.

Our lesson this last week of the quarter explores some highlights of

the life within, through the grace of God provided under the new

covenant. We concentrate on both the new life granted in the present

world and the new, immortal life in the future when we can see

our Lord face-to-face. The fullness of the new life now involves the

privilege of sharing it with our fellow human beings everywhere.

The New Covenant Life



Sunday

December 19

Part 1



What exclusive claim about salvation is made in one of Peter's

:OVENANT

sermons?

;ALVATION

"There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name un-

der heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be

saved" (Acts 4:12, NASB).

First Jesus stated His uniqueness as Saviour (John 3:36;

14:6), and now Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, con-

firms that in Jesus Christ is salvation and that outside of Him

there is none. Jesus Christ is the grand focal point of salvation.

According to the Bible, man is saved neither by wisdom or right

knowledge (as claimed by the teaching of Gnosticism), nor by

merit or right action (as claimed by legalism and Judaism), nor by

mystical absorption into deity (as claimed by pagan and

nonnpagan mysticism), but by the decisive act of God in the birth,

life, death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly ministry of Je-

sus Christ. Thus the title "Saviour," which is a name of God in

the Old Testament (Ps. 106:21; Isa. 43:3; Jer. 14:8; Hosea 13:4;

etc.), is applied to Jesus Christ in the New Testament (Luke

2:11; John 4:42; 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 John

4:14).

How do the apostles emphasize another aspect of our salvation?

Rom. 13:11; 5:9 (compare 8:24); 1 Peter 1:5.

When Paul writes, "For now salvation is nearer to us than

when we believed" (Rom. 13:11, NASB), he expresses the con-

viction that the historical events of salvation—accomplished by

Christ's birth (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6, 7), life, death, and resurrec-

tion (Rom. 4:25; 5:10; 2 Cor. 4:10, 11; etc.) in the past—have

linked to us a future dimension of salvation. Our present experi-

ence of salvation is also a foretaste of the salvation that is yet to

come on "the last day" (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; compare 1 Thess.

5:1, 2, 4; 2 Thess. 2:1-4), the "day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Cor.

5:5), when He shall come in the clouds of heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

Do I believe that I have been saved by Jesus Christ? If I, by daily

surrender, remain in the state of salvation, what can separate me

from salvation when my Lord appears "a second time, not to deal

with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Heb.

9:28, RSV)?

Further Study:

1 Peter 1:2-5, 9; Rev. 21:1 to 22:5.

The New Covenant Life



Monday

December 20

Part 2

NEW COVENANT



"How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eter-

LIFE

nal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your

conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14,

NASB).

A significant salvation argument in the letter to the Hebrews is

the superiority of the blood of Christ shed on Calvary's cross and

applied to the believer. Whereas the blood of goats and bulls

sanctifies "for the cleansing of the flesh" (Heb. 9:13, NASB), the

blood of Christ has the power to "cleanse your conscience from

dead works to serve the living God" (verse 14, NASB). Christ's

blood removes the defilement of the conscience which has been

polluted by "dead works."

Read Hebrews 6:1 and James 2:17, 26. What do you think are the

"dead works" from which we are cleansed or set free?

The inspired writers argue forcefully that a Christian moves

on to maturity in the Christian life. This involves "repentance

from dead works" (Heb. 6:1). Faith is spoken of as dead when

it does not result in deeds or activity that are faith produced

(James 2:17, 26). "Dead works" is the negative aspect in contrast

with the positive one expressed in Hebrews 6:1 as "faith toward

God." "Dead works" in Hebrews 6:1 and 9:14 are not sins lead-

ing to death, but human works of intended obedience which lack

the element that would make them "faith works." In this sense

"dead works" are "works of law" which describe a way of life

characterized by legalism and a way of seeking salvation outside

the plan of God in Scripture.

What is the object of the cleansing of the believer's conscience?

Heb. 9:14.

Cleansing under the new covenant is not the end but the means

of the new life of the believer. "The object of purification is

service. Men and women are redeemed for service."—S.D.A.

Bi-

ble Commentary, vol.

7, p. 454. Thus the object of the gift of a

cleansed conscience which restores to full fellowship in the new

covenant is the provision of power for energetic service to Him

who alone lives and gives life. Those who serve the "living

God" bring forth "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy

Ghost" (Rom. 14:17).

Is Christ's cleansing of my conscience an end in itself, or does it

enable me to give evidence in service for my Lord?

Further Study:

1 Thess. 12:9; Acts 20:19; Col. 3:24.

The New Covenant Life



Tuesday

December 21

Part 3

COVENANT

1EW HEART

What was the new covenant promise regarding the heart?

"After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their in-

ward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and

they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:33).

The "stony" heart (Eze. 11:19; 36:26) which may, also be

"uncircumcised" (Eze. 44:7), is the central agency by which man

thinks, purposes, and understands. Man's attitude, as depicted

by his behavior, springs forth from it. The heart is in need of a

new creation and cleansing (Ps. 51:10; Jer. 24;7; Eze. 18:31).

It is the pure in heart that shall see God (Matt. 5:8). The

promise of the new covenant is to have God write His law in our

hearts. This acceptance of the law of God, of being governed by

His will, results in His being our God. Thus we shall be His

people.

How does Christ dwell in our hearts? Eph. 3:17.

Faith is the means by which Christ dwells in our hearts.

Christ is not an occasional visitor in the believer's heart, but by

faith Christ's constant and abiding presence makes a living,

covenantal relationship the lasting reality of each believer's life.

What is the experience of those in whose heart Christ dwells?

Col. 3:15; 2 Cor. 4:6; Rom. 5:5.

It is one of God's great acts to have His light shine "in our

hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the

face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6, NASB). "The love of God has been

poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was

given to us" (Rom. 5:5, NASB). In addition to the light of the

knowledge of God's glory that shines into our hearts and the love

of God which is poured into our hearts, "the peace of Christ"

rules within us (Col. 3:15).

What is needed to maintain the new covenant heart with God's

law, light, and love dwelling in it?

There can be no continuing relationship with Christ in a heart

that does not always recognize its natural defilement. This rec-

ognition leads to a continuing dependence upon the merits of Je-

sus. This in turn opens the heart's door to the Heavenly

Merchantman, who has in His hands everything the helpless soul

can ever need. (See Rev. 3:18-20.)

Further Study:

Steps to Christ,

"Rejoicing in the Lord," pp.

115-126.

The New Covenant Life



Wed nesday

December 22



Part 4



What is the answer to man's quest for eternal life?

NEW COVENANT



AND ETERNAL



"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will

LIFE

live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me shall

never die" (John 11:25, 26, NIV).

There are two dimensions or aspects to eternal life. The

present

dimension is to bring the believer to a present experience

of the abundant life (John 10:10; compare 6:33, 35, 63). This

eternal life is resident in Jesus Christ (John 5:26; compare 4:10,

14; 11:25; 14:6), and it assures the one who partakes and contin-

ues to partake of Jesus that he "shall live for ever" (John 6:51).

Those who follow Jesus receive eternal life now and shall never

perish (John 10:28).

The

future

dimension of eternal life involves the resurrection

of the body (John 5:28, 29; 6:39, 40, 44, 51-56). This means that

the resurrection is clearly a future event and experience and not a

platonic concept of God's eternal today. The life characterized

as spiritual and not of the flesh (compare Rom. 7:12-14; Eph.

6:12) is a life that has part in the bodily resurrection (1 Cor. 15:44-

53; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:13-18) at the second coming of Christ

(1 Cor. 15:19-23; Col. 3:4).

What will take place when Jesus Christ returns in the clouds of

heaven? 1 Cor. 15:52; Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 Thess. 4:15, 16.

When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise immortal, and

the living followers of Christ will be changed in the twinkling of an

eye. Both the dead and the living who are Christ's will possess the

same kind of resurrection body. Immortality begins at that time

for God's people.

"Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might be-

come one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are

to come forth from the grave,—not merely as a manifestation of

the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has be-

come ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and re-

ceive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the

Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into

the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal."—The

De-

sire of Ages,

p. 388.

What is the difference between eternal life and the immortality

received when Christ comes? Can the future immortality be had

without the life in Christ now?

Further Study:

1 Cor. 15:50; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Rom. 8:11.

The New Covenant Life



Thursday

December 23

Part 5



"Christ

was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them

)VENANT

that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto

ADVENT

salvation" (Heb. 9:28).

HOPE

The second coming of Christ is a prominent theme through-

out the New Testament. It is variously designated as "the day

of the Lord" (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10), "the day of Christ"

(2 Thess. 2:2), "the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6), "the day of

visitation" (1 Peter 2:12), "that day" (Matt. 7:22; 2 Thess.

1:10), or "the last day" (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24: 12:48).

The return of Jesus Christ is to complete His work of salva-

tion. The believer does not fear the return of His Lord, but he is

urged to prepare for His coming (Matt. 24:44; 25:1-13; Luke

12:40; Phil. 3:17-21; Jude 21). It is a challenge to personal purity

(2 Peter 3:11, 12; 1 John 3:2, 3). The second coming is a

"blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) because of the things the returning

Saviour will do (1 Cor. 15:19-23; Phil. 3:20, 21).

What does the New Testament teach about the nature of Christ's

return? Matt. 24:36; 1 Thess. 4:16; 5:1-3; 2 Thess. 1:7.

The second coming of our Lord is preceded by definitely pre-

dicted signs (Matt. 24:14; 2 Thess. 2:1-4; 1 Tim. 4:1-3;

2 Tim. 3:1-5; 2 Peter 3:3, 4). It is an event visible to the human

eye (Luke 17:23, 24; Rev. 1:7) and not a secret situation. It will be

accompanied by the sound of the trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). It

will be in glory and in great power (Matt. 24:30; 25:31;

2 Thess. 1:7); yet it will be unexpected (Matt. 24:44). Although

the exact time and hour have not been revealed (Matt. 24:36; Acts

1:7; 2 Peter 3:10), signs of the times in the political (Matt. 24:6, 7;

1 Thess. 5:2, 3), social (2 Tim. 3:1-5), economic (James 5:1-

8), and natural (Matt. 24:29, 30) spheres give enough pointers for

the perceptive person to know that it is near.

Is my life-style reflecting my belief in the imminent return of Je-

sus Christ? Or have I reinterpreted the second coming of Christ?

Be aware that nineteenth- and twentieth-century liberal theol-

ogy discards the reality of a second coming of Christ as an errone-

ous feature of the message of the early church. Other modern the-

ologies reinterpret the hope of the second coming as a personal,

spiritual experience, or in other terms acceptable to the modern

mind. Yet the Bible teaches forcefully the sure hope of Christ's

second coming as an imminent event.

Further Study:

The Great Controversy,

pp. 635-645.

The New Covenant Life



Friday

December 24

Part 6

NEW COVENANT

AND THE GREAT

COMMISSION

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching

them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and,

lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt.

28:19, 20).

The blessings and benefits of the new covenant are not for a

small group of people only. The new covenant is universal in

scope, without any limitation as to race, nationality, sex, or cul-

ture. It is for this reason that the Risen One has called upon His

followers—and that means everyone who has answered the call

into the new covenant life—to make known to the whole world

the good news of the redeeming, saving, and sanctifying Lord and

His divine gifts.

Notice the elements of this great commission:

"Go."

The followers of Jesus are to be active in bringing

the good news to those who have not yet heard it in its fullness.

"Teach all nations."

Literally, "make disciples of all na-

tions." This breaks all barriers, for the gospel is to be

"preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations" (Matt.

24:14).

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have

commanded you."

The object and content of the teaching are

clearly defined. The teaching is to be all-inclusive as expressed

by the words "all things." The teaching is that which Christ

commanded. It is to reflect the totality of the new covenant way

of life. Those who are taught are "to observe" what they are

taught. This "observing" requirement shows that intellectual

assent is not enough. The true Christian "observes" or lives

the new way of life. Thus the "man . . . in Christ" is "a new

creation" (2 Cor. 5:17; compare Rom. 6:4). He bears the fruit of

the new life (Gal. 5:22, 23; compare Gal. 6:8; Eph. 5:9) and in the

power of the risen Lord performs the will of God (Eph. 6:6). He

lives for Christ (Rom. 6:11, 13; 2 Cor. 5:15).

"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit."

The baptism involves death to the old life and the be-

ginning of the "newness of life." (Compare Romans 6.) The act

of baptism is to take place in the name of the Three Persons of

the Godhead.

"I am with you alway."

This is the marvelous covenant

promise of the constant presence of Christ. This is the final

word of assurance this quarter. We who are Christ's are never

alone. In the height of our joy and in the depth of our sorrow,

Jesus Christ is with His own.

How can I effectively share the good news in life, words, and

deeds?

Lesson for 1 st quarter '83

Sabbath School members who have not received a copy of the

Adult Lessons for the first quarter of 1983 will be helped by the

following outline in studying the first two lessons. The title of

this series is "Christ's All-Atoning Sacrifice."

First Lesson

ETERNAL SACRIFICE

Memory Text, 1 Peter 1:18-20

Eternal Christ (Isa. 9:6)

Eternal Service (Deut. 6:4)

Satan's Rebellion (Eze. 28:17)

Man's Rebellion (Gen. 3:6)

Eternal Love (Jer. 31:3)

Focus of the Week

Second Lesson

SACRIFICE FORESHADOWED

Memory Text, Rev. 13:8

In Eden (Gen. 3:7)

At the Flood (Gen. 7:1)

In the Passover (1Cor. 5:7)

In the Exodus (Ps. 77:19)

In David's Sin (Ps. 51:10)

Focus of the Week (Heb. 12:2)

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